❝ bright lights — open . ❞

[truce.]

#794044[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]❝ You got this written down in your brains, yeah? ❞ Tommy grumbled to a young couple. Visitors from the East, they said. He shuffled closer to the middle of the street in the village, pointing down the street before looking back at them. ❝ You go all the way down this street, yeah? When you see the little clock tower, you turn right. You got that? ❞ He stared at the couple expectantly as they nodded. ❝ Tell me what I just said. ❞

❝ At the clock tower, turn right. ❞ The woman nodded, Tommy humming before looking back down the street. ❝ Right… Right- uh. Yeah. Turn right and continue yourself down until you see a large - uh - a large opening, yeah? The library is on the left.  ❞ ❝ Thank you, sir. Have a nice day! ❞ The man in the couple thanked Tom with a pleased smile before the couple were on their way, getting lost in the busy street as they went off in search of the library. Tommy hummed before returning as they began to walk away, ❝ Yeh, I am. ❞

Tommy’s shoulders slumped as he stared down the street, blinking in silence, before he theatrically shuffled around to look up at the signpost. The Welcome Centre pointed in that very direction, Tommy’s features scrunching up before he realized what he had done. ❝ Oh, bugger- ❞ He mumbled beneath his breath, sighing before shuffling back to face the direction he’d set the couple off in. He’d directed them to the entirely wrong place. The library was on the other side of the village.

Well, this only proved that he ain’t here to play tour guide for any of these visitors. He wasn’t good with directions, but who could blame him? For a village, this was a pretty fuckin’ massive village where all the streets looked the same. So what if he didn’t know where the library was? Well. Tom shrugged it off swiftly. It sounded like it had just become a personal problem, hadn't it?

[freddie]

[align=center][div style="background=transparent; borderwidth=0px; bordercolor=; width: 400px; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 125%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: black"]

— the village had come to be the place for fred to hang out at. after so long of feeling bored around the lodge, feeling lazy and worthless with nothing better to do, the village opened up a lot of opportunities for him. sure, opening a bar was fun and all, but he also got to indulge in all the other resources flintlock’s newest addition had to offer. strolling down the street with a cup of coffee in one hand, other hand in his coat pocket, he looked pleasant and content.

“you got this written down in your brains, yeah?” fred slowed to a stop to curiously watch as tommy grumbled to a couple, listening to him give directions. and as he eavesdropped on the conversation, and began to notice tommy’s mistake, he could have easily stepped in to help give the right directions. instead, though, he merely watched as the couple went off towards the “library” looking thankful that tommy helped them. little did they know.

it seemed like tommy noticed his own error, as well. it was enough for fred to laugh quietly to himself, deciding to step closer towards his cousin’s side. “my god, tommy. you’ve been here how long, now?” he gazed over in the direction the couple went off in, sipping absently at his coffee. “it’s their fault though, yeah? they could’ve asked for directions from anyone else more qualified.” of course; who would ever blame tom for something like that? the only people who could be blamed for this mistake just had to be the couple.

he nudged tommy’s side with his elbow, starting to grin as he said, “how about next time you give the directions to my bar instead? i could use the extra business.”

after all, what else was there to do with tom's shit sense of direction besides capitalize off of it?

[truce.]

#794044[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 1.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]It couldn’t be Tommy’s problem if the couple had trusted him with his directions; if they couldn’t bother to walk to the welcome center to ask for the whereabouts of the library then Tommy couldn’t possibly care less if they were walking the wrong way. As he watched the couple disappear around the corner, Tom sucked his teeth casually before looking away. Now it was no longer his problem. Beforehand, he probably could have gone after them upon realizing his mistake, but that required effort that Tommy simply did not have.

❝ My God, Tommy. ❞ That all too familiar voice got louder the closer Freddie got, paired with a quiet chuckle. ❝ You’ve been here how long, now? ❞ Tommy curled a lip in thought, pointer finger casually wagging in the direction that the couple walked before he looked over towards his cousin. ❝ You see that, yeah? Now that there ain’t any of my business no more. ❞ He pointed out matter-of-factly, eyes darting back to look down the street again. Tom chose to not talk, not until Fred brought up the word qualified.

❝ Uh, no - that ain’t it now. ❞ He retorted swiftly, taking one small step back before he continued, ❝ The fact of the matter is that they come all the way from the sunny East to come and potter about a fucking library, mate. It makes no difference to me how long they waste their time lookin’ for the library when they ain’t gonna stop wasting their time once they find it. ❞ He looked back towards Freddie, only then raising his brows as if to accentuate his point. ❝ Do they not own fuckin’ books in the East? ❞ It totally evaded the point of Fred’s question, but Tommy didn’t care when he made such a good point.

Fred suggested Tom direct them to the bar instead, Tommy nodding slowly as he eyed Freddie out before he looked away, adding as a smug utterance, ❝ You come over here with your… face, and your little cup of coffee - right? -  gigglin’ about how you could do with the extra fuckin’ business like it ain’t already obvious. ❞ He reached out to take the cup of coffee right out of Freddie’s hand, taking a sip of it himself before he added, ❝ I’ll tell you what; you start getting me one of these in the mornings- ❞ He raised the cup of coffee, ❝ And I’ll tell ‘em to get arseholed at your little bar, ‘ight? ❞

He narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly at Fred, taking another sip of his coffee just for good measure before handing it back to him. Tom was a brash man who quite frankly didn’t give a shit about the bold moves he’d make in conversations. But, his family knew him well enough to realize when he was being genuinely hostile or not and, from his approach today, it only showed his fondness towards his cousin in the strangest of ways.

[freddie]

[align=center][div style="background=transparent; borderwidth=0px; bordercolor=; width: 400px; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 125%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: black"]

— fred couldn’t even find it in himself to be disappointed in his cousin for giving the wrong directions, let alone not trying to catch up with the couple to correct his mistake. after all, this couple could’ve gone around and asked just about anyone else for directions and they would’ve been happy to help. however, they were the ones who looked at tommy of all people and figured he ought to be the most helpful. that wasn’t on tommy; that was all on them if someone asked fred.

he raised his brows as tommy wagged his pointer finger dismissively in the direction they went, pointing out that it wasn’t his business any more. freddie simply huffed in disbelief, shaking his head. as much as the younger of the two liked to think that he knew the other man, it seemed that tom would never quite be so predictable. nobody could ever quite pin this man. perhaps that was why fred adored him as much as he did.

and, after pondering it over, tom did have a bit of a point with their keen interest in the library. “or, maybe people from the east really are that boring. did you ever think about that?” before taking a sip of his coffee, he muttered, “they’re real vanilla over there, i’ve heard.” when it came to conversations with tommy, fred learned he didn’t have to say much to get the man going. simply one word, or no reaction at all, and tommy could possibly pull a whole ramble out of thin air. sometimes it was too interesting, to see exactly where tom could lead a conversation - or if it would even stay on track in the first place.

of course the comment to direct them to the bar would have tommy go off. eyes wandered towards the man, barely able to contain bubbling amusement as tom went and plucked his coffee right out of his hand. lips tight, fighting off a grin as he observed the man take a sip of it. ”i’ll tell you what; you start getting me one of these in the mornings- and i’ll tell ‘em to get arseholed at your little bar, ‘ight?” this man came off as hostile without even knowing it; still, fred stood unflinching. he exhaled a breath out of his nose in amusement, a smile making its way to his lips, gaze briefly lowering once his cup was handed back to him.

“you know what, tom?” he held the drink back out to his cousin, a certain smug look as he said, “keep it. consider it today’s incentive. besides, you’re looking a bit dead in the eyes; you could use a pick-me-up.” he was only pulling the man’s leg at this point - though if there was anyone he’d banter with, tom would definitely be near the top of the list.