Make Sure to Plan for the Future Kids aka GDI DEK | Job | Dekkys&Aliannah |

So as it turned out, Elias' passport had expired. Or more accurately, living in a different country turned out to be just the reason Minstrel needed to decide that he was no longer a citizen of the country. Only they decided this six months ago. Which, of course, meant that Elias had no legal documentation while not only living, but travelling in and out of for the better part of the last three months under his new job with the West Fiore Trading Company. (Though the newspapers hotly debated whether Tolagen truly counted as a foreign country or a part of Fiore given the company's official offices and name being in Fiore.) So now he stood in a very crowded, very long, and very irritating line to maybe possibly hopefully see whether or not he was even legally alive.

Granted, the line moved quickly. Due at least in part to the half dozen impatient folks giving up on hard tile floors and the respectable efficiency of the folks working behind the desks. Someone should bring them chocolates sometimes, their job really isn't appreciated enough. Not that getting chocolates is worth leaving the line for. Either way, in the middle of wrinkled and torn number tickets and crying babies, Elias finally made it to the front of one of the Fiore Transportation Department's five waiting lines only to learn they didn't take passport photos.

"What do you mean I had to bring a photo," Elias said. His voice cracked at the end as he fumbled through a bag of papers proving his existence for the last six months. "I've waited in this line for three hours, the least someone could've done was put up a disclaimer."

"I can't help you anymore, hun. You should have read the pamphlet." The old lady behind the desk replied. She seemed nice, if bored and headily irritated. She was chewing a piece of gum but it failed to cover her tobacco breath. Elias gagged.

"But you were out do pamphlets when I got here. Please, is there anything you could do?"

"Well I can give you one right here," the old lady reached under the desk and handed Elias a slip labelled for the year before. "it should have most of the forms you need on a list in there, and probably the specifications for this decade' passports."

"Right, thank you, awesome, this wasn't useless whatsoever." Elias said. He grumbled at himself for being rude to the old lady but he guessed he learned why the line moved so fast. Everyone forgot about form A3A.

So Elias started towards the exit when he passed a booth asking for a signature from one "Elias Bishop". His name. Curious, thuroughly irritated, and damned well determined to prevent any form of identiy theft, Elias stomped right up next to Aliannah.

"I swear I better not be hallucinating or I'm gonna blow this joint." Elias said as he proceeded to poke Aliannah on the forehead. She was real. "Oh shit, I'm sorry."

The middle aged man behind the counter looked a mixture of mildly confused and thuroughly entertained. He stamped a few pieces of paper and started up a printer, then double and triple checked a little square photo Aliannah must have given him. Elias took a glance himself. It was his employee photo. He knew because he'd bought a new sweater and worn it just for the occasion. Blue stripes and far too comfy for workwear, though he'd done up his hair too much.

"I'm not even gonna ask why you have this," Elias said to Aliannah. He signed the last few forms the desk worker passed him. "But thanks, really. At least let me buy you lunch after waiting in line for so long."

--FIN--

Word count: 627/500