charleston

Agent Charleston || 27 Gamma || Cryptography

[tawbrey]

Back to work

[ysoldeellis-blog-blog]

“You never answered my question,” Ysolde said it like an offhanded mention, but she needed to show Thomas Awbrey that she was a just a tick sharper than he’d assumed. “And I wouldn’t call an exorcism simple,” she played along with the joke. 

Her time captaining the Anchor’s Weight— decidedly a terrible name for a ship, now that she’d considered it— had been majorly uneventful, so she was stumped as to what she would tell him about rowdy customers. There had been none. Rather the clientèle they usually had had generally been apt to flock to places much closer to the commotion. The circus, that is, drew the people, and the Anchor’s Weight remained as patient as ever.  

“Ah, we’ve been having a larger success on the delivery front,” she decided finally. “When something happens in town, everyone happens with it, and some of us are left behind to wait for them to come back. They will come back, and they’ll be rowdier than ever I’m sure. The police haven’t been around here for anything other than to make conversation with me.”

She idly picked up a dish towel and began to wring it, “You won’t have to remind me to ask Eun-Mi about the story, I assure you. But on to different matters. I’m not sure if you remember but a while before, I suppose, when I applied for the job here, I included with my resume a folder of some ideas for additions to the menu. I attached a note asking you to consider them. Um, have you? Yet?”

[tawbrey]

"You're right; I didn't," Thomas responded with a slight shrug at her first question. If it came across as a little condescending, he didn't necessarily mean it. He didn't really like it when people asked personal things about him - one of the reasons that he had never really made many friends. The other outcome, of course, was it was the exact reason he felt so cozy being a bartender, where he got to address other people's problems instead of his own.

Watching Ysolde, as she spoke, Thomas nodded at the appropriate spots and shrugged at others. He wasn't surprised it hadn't been busy - the entire town seemed to have died down, at least for the moment. Not that he could really complain, though, when he was one of those lazy citizens himself, but whatever.

"Oh, the menu?" He had to think about it for a moment, but then he lit up as he remembered. Yes, he had looked over her notes, and had gone over her writing with his own ideas and suggestions. Yeah, the pub had always been a means to an end (even if it wasn't a particularly efficient one), but that didn't mean he wasn't excited about it."I really like your idea for the crabcakes," he continued, passing over the paper for her to look at, "but..."

Thomas stopped, unsure of how to say his only concern.

"Well, er, you'd have to show me how to make them."

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

“Me either.” She muttered. “No one will ever love someone like me.” She moved ahead of him, gliding on the heels of her feet and pulling her long blonde hair past her shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to live in the confines of a white fence anyways.” 

[tawbrey]

"Aw, you can't say that about yourself!" Thomas glanced over at her, nodding along with her sentiment about not wanting to be confined. He could imagine it happening someday, maybe with the right guy, but he didn't dare even think about it until he had finished reclaiming his brothers.

"I mean, if someone like you can't get someone, what hope is there for the rest of us?"

[tawbrey]

Back to work

[tawbrey]

 uysoldeellis:

“Oh? What kind of business?” Ysolde asked, hoping to sound harmless, but it was a deliberate question. Undeniably, it was. She bit her lip in anticipation for his answer, but moved on to inspect the area of counter at which he pointed. 

It was the small brown stain that had driven Ysolde up the wall for the duration of the time she had been stuck in caring for the Anchor’s Weight. It had taken an unscrupulous amount of effort but she had gotten rid of almost all of the devil. All that remained was a faded mark, and a warp in the wood. 

“You’re not telling me it was you who made that mark.” Her voice was teasing, but still tinged with an exaggerated disbelief, “I had to get half the town in here to get that mark out.” Ysolde laughed. She pointed a slender finger to the outline of the scorch, “We got the brunt of it out probably on our seventh exorcism. But it might have been the ninth as well.”

"If I'd known all it needed was a simple exorcism, I would've called for one months ago." Thomas returned the smile, having put off answering her question for the immediate moment. Slyly, he hoped she wouldn't call him out on it, but knowing how perceptive she seemed to be, he doubted it would last for long. The real question was whether or not she would persist in her line of questioning.

 "And as for the story? Ask Eun-Mi sometime. If she likes anything more than torturing children and puppies, it's probably finding ways to embarass me." Thomas continued to wipe down the counter, pausing from the conversation to scrub at a small stain before looking back up.

"You didn't have to call the cops on anyone, did you? Sometimes the customers can get...rowdy is the kind way to put it."

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

Marged shook her head at him happily as he continued to push, she was happy that he was pushing her. She was happy that he thought she could go somewhere, but she herself didn’t think it possible. She didn’t know if she wanted to let herself believe him just yet or not. 

“I do love making coffee.” She said quietly. “Settled is a good place to be.” She muttered a little louder than her last comment. 

She looked back at him with a silly grin. “Maybe you should think about getting settled sometime.” 

[tawbrey]

"Settled is indeed a nice place to be, as long as you don't mind where you've ended up."At this point, Thomas wasn't entirely sure whether or not they were talking about himself or Marged. The thought came to him again, though - perhaps they were more alike than he had thought. He looked contemplative for a second before answering her question.

"You mean settled...like a house by the shore, dogs, kids? I dunno if I ever see it like that for myself."

[tawbrey]

Back to work

[eunmiseong]

“Oh don’t look that excited. It’s just me.”

The woman rolled her eyes and tossed the set of keys she was holding to Thomas. They were the extra ones to the Anchor’s Weight, since she’d forgotten to ask for his set before dropping off his sopping wet self off at his apartment.

“And for future reference, you really should label those. It took me an unnecessarily long amount of time to open up the food storage cupboards, just because I didn’t know which one it needed.”

Eun-Mi walked around the bar counter, careful to avoid that one, splintery, sharp edge that her clothes always would catch on. Striding pass her boss, she gave him an almost affectionate cross between a hit in the head, a noogie, and a hair tousle.

“So how are you feeling, idiot? Here to finally grace us with your presence?”

Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, Eun-Mi was kind of glad that Thomas was back. Things had been a bit… dull without him there (and subsequently stumbling over them).

[tawbrey]

"Nah, I just came back to make sure you hadn't burned down the place while I was gone, or turned it into some sort of ritual sacrifice club." Thomas watched Eun-Mi approach. He wouldn't tell her, but the place looked more or less...well, great. Not that she didn't absolutely possess the skills to do so, but he was more impressed by her work ethic to keep it that way even when he wasn't around for a whole week.

"The keys? I thought you knew already! The one with the little notch on the side next to the ring is the one for the store room," Thomas said with a smirk, as if it was obvious.

He finished wiping down the glasses in front of him (it was a pretty slow day so far) and turned just in time to receive the pat-thing on his head. Surprised at the almost nice, familiar gesture, he looked at her, his expression inquisitive but mostly unreadable.

"Oh, so we're done pushing people into water now?"

[tawbrey]

Back to work

[ysoldeellis-blog-blog]

“Mister Awbrey,” Ysolde fell into a wide grin at the sight of him, “It’s good to see you back.” She maintained the warm smile as she began to go through what had become her daily routine since her bosses sudden vacation. She looped up her apron with a practised ease and sidled into the other side of the counter. 

Ysolde noticed his gaze trailing around his bar, with what she hoped to be a helpful, familiar tone, she assured him, “I’ve taken good care of her while you were gone.” 

It wasn’t difficult for Ysolde to guess why her boss had been gone this whole time. In fact, she had witnessed herself the horror that was enough to drive this man away from his job for so long. She wished she was able to do the same thing as he had, but she supposed her midnight walks would have to constitute as much therapy as she could afford.

“It’s been pretty slow without you here,” she admitted to him. “But the Anchor’s Weight has been running as best as I could keep her. I did have a little help, but that’s expected, isn’t it?” Ysolde continued to make easy banter, but stopped, looking up at her boss, wondering what he might say. 

At least they were a little bit less awkward around each other than they had been initially, or else, she hoped they were. 

[tawbrey]

"Yeah, uh, sorry 'bout that. I just had some...business I needed to take care of." Thomas nodded his apology, a little bit of guilt gnawing at his insides - had Ysolde really taken care of everything while he was gone? Ellis or no, he had clearly made the right decision when hiring her, and he couldn't help but feel slightly poor that he left such a big task to her and the rest.

And, of course, he was lying. He didn't dwell on it, though. He supposed it could hardly even be called a lie. After all, the police had stopped at his place to pick him up and speak to him, and word probably got around after a while he had been one of the ones at the castle. He hadn't bothered reciprocating, though, and still didn't know Ysolde had also been there. Thomas had guessed that Eun-Mi might've been there, but had he known half the active staff probably needed a week off to, he'd have definitely just shut the place down for a little while.

"Well, it certainly looks a lot...cleaner than I left it.""And look! You even got the scorch mark out of the counter. Kinda," he said after a moment, impressed. When he became particularly intoxicated, Thomas tended to drift towards the blowtorches...an event, as anyone who had worked here would testify, never worked out particularly well for either Thomas or the furniture surrounding him.

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

“Ugly?!” She gasped but smiled. Her eye lit up with joy, there was something about telling her she would travel that made it seem real. But it was a far off thing for Marged. She was not ready to leave her sister nor think about seeing her photographs. They were something she treasured. 

Marged looked up at him with a stupid grin. She eventually shook her head, still smiling and said; “You’re lying.” She rolled her eyes at him and pushed past to him to keep taking the pictures of the children.

[tawbrey]

"Alright, then I'm lyin'. All I'm sayin' is that you could probably get yourself a job real easy at the newspaper or something."

Thomas followed, shrugging playfully as he did so.

"I mean, unless you'd be happy makin' coffee every day. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's real easy to get settled into a place, ya know?"Thomas shifted on his feet as he watched her. Even through she was clearly happy, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to her. One of his brothers had acted much like this, although he wasn't quite sure about Marged.

[tawbrey]

Back to work

Okay, so two days of relaxation had quickly turned into five days, and five days had turned into a week. Thomas Awbrey had needed the break, though - the time needed to clear his head had been a necessity, but now he was back, and ready to get back at it.

As he had taken a break, Thomas didn't expect his employees to run the place full time. If they had wanted, they were also allotted breaks, and Thomas was pretty sure the pub had been closed entirely for a day. He had made the calls, though, and everything was ready.

Everything was good - Thomas hadn't quite come to terms with the horror he had seen, but he had managed to block it from his memory. Still, it was early, he was sober (for now), and he was ready to get started, which is why when the door opened and signalled a person's arrival, he grinned widely.

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

Marged looked back at him pausing in her tracks of taking a picture and walking closer to the children, it was something that really never entered her mind. She had never thought of selling her photos let alone sharing them with someone who would judge them. She thought to herself as she looked at Thomas. 

“You think so?”

[tawbrey]

"I bet! I mean, you've been snappin' away all evening. Just get rid of the ones with my ugly mug, and I bet you'd have some real good ones."She looked like she could use the encouragement, and as far as Thomas was concerned, he was in her debt, at least a little. She had managed the nearly impossible feet of making him enjoy a circus, and if he could give her back a little of that hope, it would be worth it.

"I got it! Ya could be one of those magazine photographers. Travelin' everywhere and stuff," he grinned.

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

Marged looked behind her when Thomas caught up. She shook her head. “She is too busy right now, but I think I will drag her along soon.” Marged took a bite of her cotton candy hoping to get rid of it before they reached the popcorn. 

She got distract though on her adventure toward popcorn by a clown who was dancing around for a group of children. She bounced happily and walked closer to him, snapping pictures as she went. 

[tawbrey]

Thomas couldn't help a small, slightly sad frown at the children. Whereas Marged was having a brilliant time, he couldn't help but see all the reminders of his brothers. Whether they were things actually connected to the boys or it being his overactive imagination was a question not easily answered, but they kept popping up regardless.

"I bet you could make a lot of money selling your pictures...probably more than selling coffee," he remarked idly and with a renewed smile."You got some good ones in there, ya know?"

[eunmiseong]

“Oh god, no. That’d be a complete disaster. Children tend to not like me very much, and vice versa. I want to teach. I want to be able to educate people about things, like mathematics or the sciences. Something that can be both methodical and creative.”

Eun-Mi shook her head, nearing Thomas’ apartment. “You’d rather have me leave you in the river? That completely ruins my goal of not accidentally killing my boss this year.”

Her hands were shaking when she brought the car to a stop, but she all she could do was just tighten her grip on the steering wheel and keep her face an unreadable slate.

“We’re here.”

[tawbrey]

"Oh, good. I think children would test your patience even more than drunks do."

Thomas fidgeted as they got closer to his place. He wanted the rest, but oddly enough, he didn't want to be alone as well. And not in some weird way, he just wanted someone to sit there as he fell asleep. Despite the fact that Eun-Mi had just berated and dumped him into freezing water, he was oddy, uncharacteristically tempted (if only briefly) to ask her.

That would be stupid, though. And if there was one thing Eun-Mi did not tolerate, it was stupidity. When she stopped the car, Thomas sighed and grabbed the thermos.

"Yeah we are," he answered back, feeling a little stupid for his answer. He got out of the car, and stopped to look at her quizzically. Another dumb idea...but perhaps not, he thought upon noticing her hands. It was something he knew all too well.

Now, Thomas knew better than many not to call attention to the fact Eun-Mi had actual feelings. Even so, he considered addressing it for a moment, before shrugging to himself.

"Maybe you need a drink too," was all he said before glancing down at the asphalt, nodding, and closing the car door. He shot one last, conflicted look at Eun-Mi's car from his apartment door and then headed inside.

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

Marged giggled and squeezed his hand. “I bet it is.” She smiled at him and then pulled him away. “Let’s see something else! There is so much to see!” She smiled at him before pull him along. “I think we should get popcorn now.” she said, even though she still had a handful of cotton candy left on her stick. But it didn’t matter to her.

[tawbrey]

Thomas followed along, shooting one last look at the acrobats.

"But of course," he nodded. He slurped up the last of his cotton candy messily, and dumped it in a trash bin hurriedley as he caught up to her.

"So have you brought your sister yet? She's the...ah, teacher...right?"

Thomas recalled very briefly meeting her, and if she was who she thought she was, he wouldn't be in the least surprised to find out she and Marged were related. He watched her expression, grinning politely when she smiled at him.

[mathilda-goodwin-blog]

Painting for Art Class

[mathilda-goodwin-blog]

Do you? [asks and begins sketching the rest of his figure] 

What was he like?

[tawbrey]

Me? Draw? [laughs]His name's Benji - he's pretty funny. He used to draw all over the walls when he was really young. [he smiles, although it's a little troubled]

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

She laughed with his but only quietly. “I think that’s what I tell her a lot.” Marged bit his lip and snapped another photo of his smile. 

Marged looked up at him with her eyes sparkling. “Everything is photogenic silly.” She held back a giggle and snapped a picture of the acrobats  “Everything is beautiful and deserves to be seen.” 

[tawbrey]

Thomas wasn't completely sure about the accuracy of her statement - he knew that there were some things he wished he could never have to deal with or remember ever again. He wasn't going to say -that-, though, and after a moment, he spoke up again.

"Well, you obviously haven't seen the pub's storeroom. No one needs to see that mess."

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

Marged’s eyes turned swiftly to him. She loved to ask question but not this time. She just smiled. He wouldn’t have been the one to ruin anything because Marged’s happiness didn’t always last that long, he should be happy it did. She took his his hand in her, lacing their fingers. 

“I have my sister to work for. She worries about me to much.” She said quietly. “But I don’t think she should worry.” Marged pulled up her camera to her eye and snapped a picture of Thomas.

[tawbrey]

Thomas smiled a little when she held his hand - he could tell that it was out of friendship, and so he wasn't terribly bothered. He was also glad that she didn't inquire more. She was respecting his privacy, and he really appreciated that.

"I don't think she should worry, either," he nodded. "You seem like you know what you're doing. And if not, just look at the rest of us."A self deprecating laugh was interupted by the clicking of the camera. He couldn't help but grin a little.

"Guess confessing stuff makes me photogenic, huh?" He asked, poking fun a little. It was all in good nature, though.

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[marged-the-pearl]

Marged swallowed quietly and looked at Thomas, she was looking for something but she wasn’t sure. He sounded sad…she didn’t like the sound of that. She heard far to often. She looked to where he was looking. 

“No.” she shook her head slowly. She didn’t know why she has asked that. She shrugged. “Owning anything…” She whispered. “I hope it is worth it.” 

[tawbrey]

Thomas looked between the acrobats and Marged. She seem disheartened, and he felt bad about it - after all, before talking to him, Marged had seemed all smiles and laughs. He really didn't want to be the person to ruin her day out.

"It will be worth it," he began. "When I finally save up enough money to bring my brothers back home. All that? It's for them."

"You just...you gotta have something to work for, ya know?" At this point, Thomas had colored a little. He usually didn't share personal information like that, but it seemed like the right opportunity.

[tawbrey]

Circus, huh?

[jae-seong-blog-deactivated20210]

Flattered that Thomas would find him a bit scary, Jae tried his best scary face and just ended up looking constipated.

“What you’ve never been ??” Jae was shocked even though he didn’t really know if he had been before. His excitement was so high that it seemed he had already gone to one and loved it. He could picture the lights, the music, the salls and the ambiance so well in his fantasies that he also could have made up a childhood memory where he remembered running hand in hand with his sister, eating ice cream and throwing darts at colorful balloons.

“Days off ? That’s exactly what you need to go to the circus ! There’ll be sweets and ice cream and fresh beers -I know you like this one- and games and prizes and clowns and- ” he repeated himself with enthusiasm. Going to the circus could really be something that would help Thomas get his mind off what has been going on lately in the town. For Jae, who seemed like a kid on his birthday, the only word “circus” had chased all his dark ideas away.

“Oh but wait. If you won’t be at the bar, will you close it ?” Asked Jae worrily. He did not want to change Thomas’ decision, but if that meant Eun-Mi would be busier, he did not really like it.

[tawbrey]

"I don't know. All that sounds so...gaudy," Thomas said, wrinkling his nose. A nice time for him (all drinking aside) was being able to sit down (by himself) with a nice book. Preferably in front of a fireplace, but beggars can't be choosers and whatever. Jae looked really excited, though, and Thomas kind of wanted to take him, just to see his friend happy. Not that he would tell the other man that, though.

"I don't know...I might. I bet Eun-Mi and the new girl can handle the place. Maybe. I don't know. I might not even take it off..." Thomas realized he was rambling at that point and looked down in slight embarassment, his cheeks coloring slightly.