The mere fact of that small little statement had the blonde bouncing on her toes as she rang the doorbell to Mr. Seamus’s house. The place still looked the same from what Webby remembered of it, except there were some few minor... damages, but other then that exactly how she had remembered!!
Webby just hoped that Mr. Seamus still remembered her.
Funny thing she forgot to mention... Seamus had no idea that she was here. See Webby returning was sort of a literal last minute spur of events. Bentina was told that there had been a major set back with her previous mission and she had to return to the field immediately. Webby didn’t even have time to pack, she had a small back pack with essentials and was sent on a train to Swynlake for her safety.
And now she was HERE!!
She rang the door bell once more for good measure waiting with anticipation as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her heels. When the door opened, the blonde was super quick to jump right on Seamus embracing him in a tight hug.
“Mr. Seamus!! I’m BACK!!!” Webby giggled as she pulled back with this super bright smile on her lips.
“And my granny and I are really hoping you won’t be mad at my very sudden appearance out of no where! And not leave me to err sleep out on the streets!”
Vinny was a fucking disaster. This was just typical. He had barely started living in this new town and he was already ruining it for himself. Was it some kind of sign? A sign that he really wasn’t much suited for civilian life? Maybe it had been optimistic of him, but he had thought for sure that he would have a decent handle on his powers. At the least, he thought he couldn’t do worse than he had before.
Blowing up a tree and infuriating the inhabitants definitely wasn’t the start he had been hoping for. Or anything that he was hoping for. God, he had thought he’d had the worst incidents of magical accidents behind him. They should have been behind him.
But now a tree was blasted into smithereens, the cops would likely ask him a bunch of unnecessary questions, and Vinny wasn’t safe. He wasn’t safe at all. He attempted at meditating for a little while but that didn’t work. As if meditation was the answer to his troubles. Then he tried calming tea and music and that crap. It didn’t help.
Then finally he came up with a crazy idea: if he made himself a structure to put himself in...something that could seal him off and keep the danger away...well it had to be possible. He researched material that stemmed from magic and otherwise, and he started ordering weird pieces left and right, before finally he was dressed in a hazmat suit dragging some of the raw materials toward a spot he had thought would make for a good panic area. And then the damn bag had to get a hole. “For fuck’s sake ‘m tryin’ to build somethin’ here.”
Junis did not like to waste his time. Every minute needed to be used swiftly, with purpose. They were here for a functional time, not a long time. Well, some of them anyways. As the flowers had whispered, which was the only one of those abominable things he had enjoyed, there was a vampire in town who had an elongated life, but there was also a resident who was older than he appeared. Not that that meant much.
Just that he could take his sweet time looking around properties.
He did not care why Seamus had approached him about helping look for a place in Besydus, but he did know that he was going to get this man out of Swynlake. Him and his vehicals were, let’s face it, an eye sore that Junis had turned a blind eye to. But not anymore, given this opportunity he was not going to waste it. He had done the job of a real estate agent, found several places that were either for sale, for lease, for rent. All wonderful places, all with plenty of land, all far away from the town. And yet each one had been shot down for one reason or another.
To think he was using his day off to help this man, driving him to and fro, showing him around, and they had absolutely nothing to show for it. On the way to the next property he stopped in front of his own house after getting a call from one of the managers at the farm, thankful that he’d never had to go through this process since his family had owned this house for generations.
“I’m just popping in,” he said, already pushing open the door. “I’ll leave the engine running. It’ll only be a moment.”
Before Seamus could respond he shut the door to make the trek up the long walk way and up the stairs into his house.
So This Is What Getting In Trouble Feels Like || Ancient History
@apennywasted
Webby was on a HIGH!!!!
Today had gone BRILLIANTLY!! She and Vee had successfully gotten their detention AND had escaped doing a summersault out the window!!! That was now an item she can check off in her pretty pink and super glitter-fied bucket list journal!
It made the blonde feel that closer to getting the rest of it all completed!!
This was super important to Webby because she had a time limit of sorts to get it all completed. She knew that once her granny was in the picture the number of things she’ll be able to do would go back to being very limited. She had to take full advantage NOW instead of allowing all this precious time to slip away from her hands.
School was over for the day and Webby was already skipping on out to walk over to Mr. Seamus place. She had reached the front gate and oh... what was Mr. Seamus doing here?!?!?!
He was on his motorcycle and had just finished parking his vehicle when the blonde made a sort of brisk walk over to him. Had one of the triplets done something?! (And if they did then it was extremely rude of them not to have included her) Was someone hurt?!
“Mr. Seamus! What are you doing here?? Is everything okay?!”
In which Vixey reaches out to a family friend for an investment...[takes place: late June, 2021]
@apennywasted
[tw -- none]
VIXEY:
While Vixey trusted Jun’s judgement, she was still nervous to meet with Seamus MacTunnag. Even if she did know him through her parents, it only put more pressure on her to come off well. Since this meeting would reflect on them too. If he said no, she wasn’t sure where she would go next. Probably to InterPride. That was her next stop anyway, as she had to discuss the lease agreement. Or maybe this would just be a dead end. Vixey was still waiting for all of this to fall apart on her. Even if she did feel slightly bolstered by her various friends’ encouragement.
She had called Mr. MacTunnag and arranged to meet him at Hatter’s. It was a nice day, so she bought herself an iced coffee and sat out on the patio. When she saw him approaching, she stood up, reaching out a hand for him to shake.
“Mr. MacTunnag,” she greeted him with a smile. “Thank you so much for meeting with me. I really appreciate you taking the time. Can I buy you a coffee?”
[outfit]
SEAMUS:
Seamus had a visitor today, and it was one he knew fairly well, through her parents. They lived close to one another, their properties while not sharing a border fairly close, and he’d become fairly friendly with her parents after a bit of time living in Besydus. Rather than meet her on her farm, however, Vixey had asked him to meet her at Hatter’s for a discussion regarding her shoppe.
While he was all too happy to oblige her, he needed to know what she was asking him, specifically, to invest in.
Arriving a bit earlier than intended, Seamus had wanted to get a seat but had discovered that Vixey had beat him to Hatter’s already. He offered her a small smile when she stood and offered her hand for a shake. He took it, shook her hand firmly, before dropping her hand, unbuttoning his suit jacket, and sitting across from her.
“Ah, that'd be lovely Ms. Chakraborty, thank ye kindly. Jus’ a regular coffee is fine, nothin’ fancy. But, I s’pose we should get right tah th’ point, aye?”
VIXEY:
“Great,” Vixey said with a smile. “I’ll be right back and we can get started.”
Vixey didn’t really want to “get right to the point,” but maybe that was just how she grew up. If you had a favor to ask someone, you started with pleasantries and worked your way towards asking after a long and meandering conversation. Vixey asking about Seamus grand-nephews (I know they have a birthday coming up!) Seamus commenting on the farm (It looks like you have a good crop of strawberries this season.)
Seamus was a businessman, though. It made sense they were going to “get right to the point.”
She grabbed the coffee and made it back to the table in just a few minutes. A few minutes that had filled her with jittery anxiety as she handed Seamus his coffee and took a seat again.
“Right, so, I don’t know how much my mama has told you…” Vixey started and wondered if that was a good place. Maybe not. Maybe she shouldn’t assume anything. Her fingers fiddled with the cardboard cozy on her drink.
“I am looking to open up a shoppe here on Main Street. A thrift shoppe.”
SEAMUS:
He knew that it was not how people in Swynlake did business, getting right down to the heart of the matter. That was the way of businessmen in New York and Japan, people he had worked with who didn’t do roundabout or meandering business deals. It was easier, sometimes, to do things this way. Other times, like now, it might behoove him to do otherwise, but he wasn’t about to change his tactics in the middle of the situation.
Vixey left and then she came back with his coffee and Seamus smiled. He thanked her. He was polite, took a sip of the coffee and nodded to tell her that it was alright. There was nothing complicated in it, and that was the way he liked these dealings, if he could get them this way. He didn’t mean to be abrupt, or forward. Any other time he would ask how the farm was doing, and had, how she was personally, and he still might, but he wanted to hear what she wanted, too.
And that always, always came first.
Seamus waited for her, patient, hands folded around the cardboard cozy around his take away mug. She started by talking about her mam and he grinned his crooked grin at her, the one that was, some would say, charming and others disarming. To him, it was just a smile.
“Yer mam’s spoken a bit about ye, told me yer lookin’ tah expand out a bit,” he confirmed, then continued. “But I’d like tah know what yer wantin’ tah do with yer thrift shoppe, what I could be investin’ in. ‘S a smart idea, considerin’ th’ closest clothing shoppe is in NTO.”
VIXEY:
You would think people continuously telling her that her shoppe was a good idea would make Vixey feel more confident in it. In a way, it did, but she kept being more caught off guard by the see through nature of business dealings. It wasn’t all like in the movies, which made it look dastardly and underhanded.
Seamus knew why he was here, and he was getting right to the point. Vixey had to shuffle the notecards in her head around to accommodate for this fact. She took a sip of tea, wiggled in her seat a bit and then leaned over to pull out the binder she had been using to store all the notes and information on the shoppe. Inside was a bit of an aesthetic lookbook, pulled from magazines and Pinterest. Notes from several business start up how-to books, color coded by content and with a proper bibliography. There was a budget too, though probably not fully complete.
“This is all I have on it so far,” she told him, pushing it toward him. “It’s simple, really. In concept. I just—noticed the lack of shopping and know how inconvenient that can be for families who aren’t as wealthy as some of the others in town. It kind of feels as if they can get left behind a bit…” She shrugged a shoulder.
“I know I have competition with Tallulah Robinson, but I have a feeling we will be catering to very different needs in the town.” She wished she sounded more certain about this, but she was really just parroting what everyone else had told her.
SEAMUS:
Seamus waited patiently for Vixey to get her wiggles out, the nerves clear. She probably hadn't been expecting him to be so to the point. That was okay. It meant he would be able to make an offer sooner, see what he could give to this project. He had high hopes for it, based on both what her mother had spoken of when they'd chatted and now.
He was impressed when she pulled the binder out and set it on the table. His hands itched to leaf through it, see what information hid there, but he waited, waited patiently, his hands folded around his coffee. He would let her speak, and then he would look through it all and respond.
The lookbook made him chuckle and he nodded as he skimmed through it. It was a good idea, a way to visualize the projected space, what she wanted to do with the business. Gave investors a sense she knew where she was headed. Her notes were good, too, the bibliography helpful.
Then, there was the budget. That's where he came in.
Closing the binder, Seamus tapped his knuckles against the cover, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he gave her a small smile. "This 's all good. Yer clearly prepared or as much as ye can be. Budget's incomplete, though I think yer aware. 'S where I come in ain't it?"
Seamus knew it was.
"Ye an' Miss Robinson will be catering tah different ideals," he agreed, matter-of-fact. "And tah be honest, I think yer shoppe has more traction. I know I'd've appreciated a place like this growin' up. Me family was a lot like the ones yer targetin'."
He paused and then: "how much are ye needin'?" He could really give any amount. Hell, he could probably fund the entire project, but he knew to be careful. Vixey was just starting out. While her ideas were good, the competition (and potential competitor sabotage from Tallulah) were things he was definitely thinking about.
VIXEY:
Vixey waited anxiously while Seamus looked through the binder. At first, she just kind of stared at him, but when it was clear that he was going to be taking his time, she looked away. She took a sip of coffee. And watched people going by on the sidewalk. A family, a man with his dog, people who were hurrying to get somewhere, people who were moseying along. People taking pictures and people pointing. The sidewalk was swollen with tourists, as it often was in the summer.
It entertained her for a bit, but it didn’t stop her from thinking anxiously about what Seamus was thinking. There hadn’t been any advice about how to organize your business. There were all sorts of things about the to do lists and the steps, but not putting it all together. She didn’t know if there was some industry format she was missing. If Seamus would know it and think her ignorant.
She was ignorant, after all. About how business worked, anyway. And she wanted it to succeed. Even if she was still unsure about how much.
The napkin she’d gotten with her drink was getting shredded in her lap. Her eyes snapped to Seamus as he leaned back and closed the book. She nodded a little at his question, unsure what else to say. It was the truth. She was here to ask him to invest. There was no getting around it really.
Vixey managed a smile about the little anecdote he told. After all, that was why she was doing this. For families that needed it. It wasn’t frivolous. It was important.
“Yes, well, uhm,” she tripped over her words but then managed to find them. “30,000 pounds is the total amount. I may have over calculated slightly, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
SEAMUS:
Seamus knew she was only beginning her endeavor, that there were risks involved in backing someone who had no prior experience. He'd been one of those himself, once upon a time. But the ideas that he was seeing were good ones, a place to start.
His eyes swept down to the napkin she had clutched between her hands, torn nearly to shreds and scattered on the tabletop. He refrained from drawing attention to it. She was clearly nervous, but his story seemed to have helped. That was good, then.
Nodding, Seamus reaches into his coat pocket and pulled out his check book. "How's ten thousand pounds sound tah ye? 'S a start, gives ye a chance tah network. More experience fer ye and potential backers."
VIXEY:
10,000 pounds?
That was more money than Vixey had ever seen in her life. She hadn’t known what to expect, or how much to except, when she met with Seamus today. Honestly, she hadn’t expected anything at all. Maybe a rejection. Maybe encouragement but no offer for a loan. And she would appreciate whatever she got. She would be humble and grateful.
And she was!
Ten thousand pounds was just...so much money! It didn’t even scratch the surface either, which was entirely wild to her.
Still...she’d be an idiot not to take it, especially after she had worked so hard to get to this point.
“Wow, yes. That’d be--that’d be amazing Mr. MacTunnag. Amazing, actually. Thank you so much!”
Junis, as one would imagine, liked to keep a tight schedule. He liked to know what was happening, when, and how he was going to be able to put it into his day to ensure that everything got done with the amount of time that was provided by the day. Or night. Depending.
And, as one would also imagine, he did not enjoy when a wrench was thrown into it. But he was also a man who was able to adapt to disaster easily. One did not grow up in a household with thirteen other people and not expect to have a curve ball thrown at you every hour. That’s why he also planned for cushion time.
That cushion time was going to be used to today, he decided when his eyes caught a car just sitting on the side of the rode on the way back to the market that afternoon from the farm. At first it was going to be to the local auto shop to get the thing towed, but then he saw the man on the side of the rode a little further down the ways.
For a town that thrived on that of word of mouth and tourism he could not have a man looking like that out and about where just anyone could see him. Junis threw on his blinker and pulled over a little ways behind him. He opened his door and stepped out, staying behind the door.
“Are you all right, sir?” he called, trying for polite but it came out as an accusation.
