THE FINEST CAT BURGLAR IN ALL OF BROMLEY.

I always tell myself there was some force there. Something that held me in place and meant that all I could do was watch. But sometimes when I think back, I remember how my legs shook, and maybe I could move. Maybe I’m just a coward. indie tim stoker from the magnus archives. not spoiler free, you've been warned!

[circustrauma]

semi-hiatus

promise i haven't abandoned this blog, it's just finals week this week and next so ill be unable to write. I'm sorry!

[circustrauma]

semi-hiatus

promise i haven't abandoned this blog, it's just finals week this week and next so ill be unable to write. I'm sorry!

[circustrauma]

sorry i haven't been on for a few days, i went to my parents house and... well, you know how that goes.

[circustrauma]

Introduction Starters 3

"WHO are you?"

"Where did you come from?"

"That's a nice outfit."

"I love your bag, where did you get it?"

"I feel as though I'm not prepared for this."

"Oh my gosh! I know who you are!"

"I love seeing new places and meeting new people."

"Can you NOT stare?"

"Do you have the time?"

"Are you talking to me?"

"Do I know you?"

"Can you help me out?"

"What did you say?"

"Excuse me."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"What is going on, here?"

"Are you an angel?"

"Have we met before?"

"Who am I? Are you sure you want to know?"

"Have you seen anything so beautiful?"

"Lookin' for somethin'?"

"I'm not buying whatever you're selling."

"Freeze!"

"What is with the weather?"

"Moon sure is bright tonight."

"What'll you have?"

"I didn't ask for you."

"Thanks... ah... I didn't catch your name."

[circustrauma]

anemiasiac·:

                it’s  mostly  likely  an  odd  sight,  sitting  on  the  couch  with  hands  folded  neatly  like  a  child.   the  interior  of  the  institute  was…  cozy  in  a  particularly  english  way.   london  was  strange  compared  to  the  eastern  coast  of  america  which  they  had  become  accustomed.   it’s  rather  warm  inside  but  they  keep  the  thick  woolen  coat  on.   anemia  made  it  so  body  heat  was  difficult  enough  to  regulate.

the  tea  is  accepted  with  a  small  nod,  gingerly  holding  it  in  their  lap.   gaze  flicks  between  the  clipboard  and  the  man  himself,  still  unsure  of  his  name.   they  scrunch  up   their  nose  and  pull  out  the  notepad  again.   “   i’m not quite sure what you mean.   ”   a  lie.   they   are  well  aware  of  what  the  man  expects  to  hear,  but  telling  the  truth  would  not  help  either  of  them.   “   you want me to share what exactly?   ”   head  tilts  on  an  angle  as  they  watch  the  man’s  expression.   the  itch  resurfaces  at  the  back  of  their  mind  but  it’s  quickly  kicked  to  the  side.   lying  was  part  of  their  nature  now.   making  the  lie  convincing  was  what  mattered,  and  with  this  institute’s  focus  on  unusual  things,  skimming  around  the  truth  of  the  project  would  be  difficult.

“   well, you’re here..." tim gestures to the surrounding area, the place he'd began to resent. a paycheck was a paycheck, even if the paycheck came laced with guilt. "so i figure there’s something that happened. something spooky that goes bump in the night? usually we start with a name and we use a tape recorder, but i don’t think you speak, which is fine. hate those things anyway.    ”

tim sits across from the stranger, realizing he never really introduced himself. he used to wear a little name badge, but he'd given up wearing uniform a short time ago. if he can't get fired, why would he even bother wearing a name tag? sometimes he wondered why he even took statements from people when jon was busy. it's not like this was his job.

the way the other sits doesn't put him off at all, he had interacting and spoken to all sorts of individuals over his short time at the archives. loud, quiet, confident, prissy, shaky, greedy... there was no shortage of odd individuals who visited, and even less of those who worked for them.

“   so, i asked for you to start at the begining, but you seem to be hesitant on that. i get it, it's not easy to talk about these things that people witness out there and such. can i at least get your name to begin? i'm timothy stoker, but you can call me tim.    "  

[destructivebirtharchived]

@circustrauma​ sent ‘no, this is a trap. this is a trap, right?’ for Ashley 

“A trap?” She frowns. Why would it be a trap? What has the man gone through for him to think that? She smiles kindly at him. “I promise, it’s not a trap. You’re safe.” 

[circustrauma]

“Oh, well, isn’t that a relief.” Tim put his hands up, “Sorry. I’m not used to people... Just talking to me anymore.” Yikes, alright, Stoker. Try to get yourself together. You used to be able to talk to people.

“Outside of my job, I mean.” He laughs, albeit a bit forced, and puts a hand on the back of his neck. Try not to embarrass yourself anymore. “Timothy Stoker, you can call me Tim. What can I do for you?”  

[circustrauma]

lightobscur·:

Unsure what to answer, Claire bit down her lip as she thought. Generally lying was not a good thing, but sometimes necessary. She knew that all too well. Besides, it seemed that the other was regretting that he had lied. She was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

“Perhaps there’s still time to tell the truth? Better to come clean now than later?” 

Tim thought about it for a while, tapping his foot. He put his hand to his forehead, wondering why he was just sharing information with this person as if he knew her that well. However, if she were willing to listen to him... Not many people did, nowadays.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Sometimes lying is the right thing to do, even if you shouldn't. What if knowledge is worse than the lie?"

[circustrauma]

@medisinals said: “breathing just passes the time until we all just get old and die.   ” [ fall out boy starters ]

Tim looked at the man like he just said the most ridiculous thing ever, and that’s because he sort of did. It wasn’t exactly as if it was untrue, he supposed, but such a pessimistic way of seeing life... It struck him, more than he’d like to admit. For a while now, he’d felt like he was doing everything he could to try to stay young. The truth was, he was reaching 30, and he was starting to get kind of insecure about it. What about his stunning good looks? The man in front of him seemed to be even older than him. Yikes!  

“I guess you’re right. Should probably try to live it to its fullest then, right? Have you tried staying hydrated? It can take years right off of you!” 

[circustrauma]

@halbermenschen said: ‘time is a bastard.’ [ after laughter starters ]

“Yeah, it sure is.” Tim had a hard time hiding his lack of interest in the statement. Why were people always coming up to him and saying cryptic-- Hey, wait a second. He blinked at the man in front of him, taking a really good hard look at him. Wasn’t that... “You were on the television, weren’t you?” Oh, what was his name? What channel was that on? He couldn't remember. 

[circustrauma]

@blessdsun said: ‘i still don’t know how i even survive.’ [ after laughter starters ]

“Well, probably like the rest of us.” Tim offered her a mug of coffee, noting how this woman was taller than him. It was rare that anyone was taller than him, so it was always a pleasant surprise. Maybe that shouldn’t have been his first thought, but he was used to cryptic and sad statements from strangers. He wasn’t used to people being taller than him.

“You get up, you roll out of bed, you shower, get dressed, and you go on with your day. Unless there’s more to it? If so, I might need more information. Are you here to make a statement?”

[circustrauma]

@destructivebirth said: ‘all that i want Is to wake up fine .’ [ after laughter starters ] 

Tim nodded a bit at as she spoke to him. That, he could understand. It had been a while since he had slept, and not for a lack of trying. Every time he closed his eyes and finally started to drift to sleep, he had nightmares. At least he was lucky, others had spoken of seeing Jon in their sleep. He just saw the same thing. His brother. That clown. Every time he opened his eyes and were awake, it was a nightmare. 

“I get you. What do you need from me, in that regard? If I were you, if I wanted to get some rest, I’d get as far from this place as possible.” 

[circustrauma]

can you reply to this with any sideblogs you have? i don’t want to accidentally interact with people in case we aren’t mutuals, but my mutual checker doesn’t tell me. 

[circustrauma]

@vigilxbo said: ‘don’t let me let you down .’ [ after laughter starters ]

“Well, if you don’t want to let me down, why don’t you let me out of this place? If you didn’t want to let me down, why did you kill Gertrude Robinson? Frame Jon? Let me get eaten by worms?” Tim is angry, and reasonably so. “If you don’t want to let me down, tell whatever thing it is that’s making me sick when I leave this place to fuck off.” 

[circustrauma]

@ghstbullet said: 'oh please, don’t ask me how i’ve been.' [ after laughter starters ]

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it. I just want to make sure you're not a danger to me." Tim was caught up in himself for the most part. There was no disdain on his part toward the new girl, but that didn't mean he was going to go out of his way to ask her about her feelings or anything like that. No, all he cared about was if she was a liability. "Heard you got a bullet taken out of you. Heard you stabbed Jon."

[circustrauma]

bookburnt:

        “Mm.  People fit new information into concepts they’ve already got.  You know, if it sucks blood like a vampire and quacks like a vampire…  Leech monster doesn’t have the same brand recognition.”  Despite the surreal subject matter, Gerard’s tone is dry and thoughtful.  If he notices how taken aback Tim is by him starting a conversation, it doesn’t show.

        “You know, I’ve always thought we should put a plaque up over the couch.  Commemorate his years of service stomping vamps, and all.”  He’s 90% sure that Trevor the Tramp isn’t actually dead, and 78% sure that he saw the geezer himself behind a Tesco last week, but still.  It’s the thought that counts, right?

        “Really feel like a tasteful ‘this spot marks the death of’ sort of job would lend the place some gravitas,”  he continues, and it’s just barely possible that he’s joking.  “Hm.  Tell you what, if I get one made and put it up, d’you think Jon would notice?”

       "Gravitas, ah? You have a point." Admittedly, Tim was pleasantly surprised at the jokes that Gerard actually was telling. Maybe he should have tried talking to him earlier. He pulled a book from the shelves, with almost no intention of reading it at this time. It was important to the case, but right now he was in the middle of a conversation. Jon could wait. 

       “You know, I’m actually a bit back and forth on that one.” He leaned against the wall, flipping through the book as he talked. “There’s a 50/50 chance, with only two outcomes as the result.”

           He holds up a finger. “One, Jon doesn’t notice, he comes to work and goes straight to his office and reads his little papers. We all think it’s funny for roughly 6 months, and then completely forget about it. Another year from now, Jon notices the plaque. He comes in, mad at me, obviously, and you get off completely scot free. Oh, that Tim, always making a fool of me during this job.” 

           Another finger. “Two, Jon does notice. It’s the first thing he sees when he walks in. This place is a sanctum to him, he eats, breathes, and lives the archives. He's been trying so hard to get this place in order, what kind of tomfoolery!" He puts on a silly Jon impersonation when he says that last line. "He comes in, mad at me, obviously, and you get off completely scot free.” 

[circustrauma]

anemiasiac :

they only vaguely understood the purpose of this place. researching into… strange phenomena. events that could not be explained by the logical mind. while some might classify them as one of these, they did not feel they belong to the same group as fear driven hallucinations. there was an explanation for their existence, though it lay in the classified hands of the government.

their head tilted at the mention of a statement. did the man think they had come here to share? the phone call they received mentioned that someone else had come here and told them about an encounter with a shapechanger. the lyrebird most likely, if this institute had managed to track them down as a person of interest. fist clenches as that itch surfaces, the thrumming of blood like a second pulse. if he tried digging too deep, asking too many questions, lukas could deal with him. show him why the truth is better left unknown.

hands moved to form signs but paused. it was likely that he did not know sign language. instead, they removed a small notepad from their coat pocket and scrawled out a short message. tapping on his shoulder, notepad is turned towards tim. “ tea would be nice ” is scrawled out in tight lettering. they suddenly jerked the notepad back to add another note, “ thank you ”

it was true, tim didn’t know sign language. he had always wanted to learn, but had never really gotten around to it. he doesn’t mind being tapped though, never been one who was very touch averse, and looks down at the piece of paper. ah, they must not talk much. he gestures to a room for the stranger to sit down, “ just stay right here, i can help you out. i promise, it’ll be the best cup of tea you’ve ever had. ”

there’s a nice couch in the room, and tim neglects to comment that not too long ago a man had laid down on it and died after giving his statement about vampires. he thought it was odd that they’d never gotten rid of the couch, but was silenced with talk of budgets and spreadsheets and he had honestly stopped paying attention.

he leaves the room, requesting and getting a cup of tea from martin (who has it prepped in record time) and comes back. he holds out the cup to the other, a clipboard tucked under his arm. he figures they'll be communicating through writing for the most part, which might make this easier. he may ask for the other's paper.

“ now, start from the beginning. ”

[glacierfront]

@circustrauma​:  Tell me, what happened?

     “Okay. Um.”

     Fingers twisting around and around themselves, she thinks for a while. Pauses. Thinks again. There’s a brief moment when it seems like she might cry, but – there’s been times for that, and this doesn’t quite… seem like it.

     If this guy – this place – this. If they can help. Then. She should let them.

     “So – I. Um. I went. For a while – I was finishing a. Uh. A degree – I got. Accepted. Into. A school here. Pretty prestigious, or whatever? For – music? For two years. And in order to. Go. I. You know.” She swallows. “I had to – leave a lot of. Most of. My life behind. From – New York.” 

      A pause. A breath.

     “And. You know. For. A while it was. Okay. But. Um. My friends – well. One friend.” Pause. Breathe. “He – um. Didn’t – he. We talked a lot, in the beginning. And then. –Didn’t?”

     And, quickly: “But it’s not – like, you know – it’s not. He.” Breathe. Pause. She closes her eyes, deliberately going slower. “I don’t – think. We. Were – are. Weak enough. Friends to – for him. To. –He wouldn’t have. Um. Just. Ditched me? Um, but –”

      God, she misses him.

      “I thought – you know, it was – fine. But. When. He – uh. When I got back after – my second, uh, the first semester of my second – he wasn’t… anywhere? Like, he was. Just. Gone?”

[circustrauma]

         Tim sat patiently with the woman as she talked, listening to her story and attempting to convey sympathy to her situation. In reality, he’d heard this one before. Disappearing people was actually fairly common, and there were usually a few reasons. There were plenty that weren’t supernatural, but there were certainly plenty that were as well. 

        It was his job, he supposed, to try to get as much detail on the situation as possible and weed out if this was one that should be discarded as someone being ghosted and not being able to cope with it. Denial could do a lot to the mind.

        These disjointed statements that she were currently giving weren’t enough for him to make a statement on, she seemed frazzled and unable to stay on track. Tim didn’t blame her for that, of course, loss was something that most people struggled with coping with. 

          Hopefully, if he asked a few questions, he could get her into a place that made more sense. 

        “He was just gone? Had you contacted anyone in his family, or anyone who may have been local to him?” Tim’s tone was firm and professional, with an blur of gentleness around the edges.  "Jobs, churches, universities... Dungeons and Dragons meetups?"