If we catch a criminal

[dowhatisays]

Who: Charlie, Meyer, and YOU
What: Meyer and Charlie are scouting out locations for their soon to begin poker game. They'll be nosing around all the public spaces in town so feel free to run into them.
When: Day 67
Where: Around town. The town hall, church, diner, etc.
Warnings: Gangster language



It hadn't taken long after arriving for the two of them to decide they needed to start some business here. Neither of them were particularly well suited to sitting around - Meyer too much of a workoholic, and Charlie bored too easily. It hadn't really taken any discussion to decided upon starting a card game here. After all, while there wasn't any money there's plenty of luxury goods people are itching for. Cigarettes being chiefly on their minds.

But if there's one thing Charlie and Meyer learned early on, it's a damn good idea not to do business where you live. And since there doesn't seem to be landlords here they figured they'd do the same thing as when they showed up here - loo for some empty space and staking a claim.

Comments

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Meyer wouldn't necessarily call himself a "workaholic," but he's well aware that other people -- including Charlie -- see him as the kind of person who can never spend too long in one place before figuring out just how it can be profitable to him. He thinks some of the people who're stuck here might be interested in a card game; the people he's talked to about what he did back home (in the vaguest terms, of course) might be the best people to advertise to first.

But before all of that, they need to find a place to conduct business in, and as they walk around, Meyer wishes like hell he had a cigarette, or something to occupy his hands. He does still have some cigarettes left over, but he's not going to smoke one unless it's an emergency -- and today, he's left them in his suit jacket to avoid temptation, and he's left the suit jacket at home. Which probably explains why he's wearing a pair of jeans, obviously too long, which he's rolled up at the bottom, and his regular shirt and vest with no tie. It's not exactly the most flattering of looks.

"What about the town hall? You think they use that for anything? Not like we've got a city council."

[dowhatisays]

Charlie's had to give in and opt for a similar look, but pulls it off considerably better than Meyer does. He found jeans in his size as well, and threw on a strange unfitted jacket over the white short-sleeved shirt he usually reserves as an undershirt but seems to pass as outwear around here. It's weird, but it does the trick. And he'd rather not stick out so much, and around here their level of dress tends to get them noticed.

Either way though, it was pretty fucking hard not to laugh when Meyer walked out in his current get up.

The town hall building looks pretty deserted, but Charlie hops up on an empty crate to peer inside.

"Can't see a damn fucking thing in there. You look fucking ridiculous today, by the way."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"Is it the vest?" Maybe he shouldn't have worn the vest. People around here don't seem to dress at all formally, but as far as he's concerned, wearing a shirt without a vest or tie is way too close to wearing nothing at all for his liking. The pants are already bad enough -- they fit in the waist, but tripping over the bottom of them had been irritating until he'd decided to cuff them. At least he's left the hat at home.

"So if you can't see anything in there, it's probably abandoned. How big is it?"

[dowhatisays]

"The vest ain't the worst of it. And by not a fucking thing I mean not a fucking thing, Meyer. It's pitch black, look."

He hops off the crate to let Meyer take a look. He's extra fidgety today. Maybe it's the nicotine withdrawl, maybe its the fact that they're so damn close to doing something again that he can barely take anything being in the way.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"Yeah? You got a better suggestion for what I should be wearing?"

He climbed up onto the crate, standing on tiptoe to look into the window. It's true -- it's almost impossible to see anything.

"So maybe we should go inside, take a look around. You got any matches on you?"

[dowhatisays]

"I dunno. Find trousers that fit or something."

Matches he does have. They're a lot easier to find than cigarettes and there ain't much use for them alone. He tosses the pack to Meyer and then saunters over to the front, hands fidgeting at his sides.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"Yeah, next time I'll make sure to tell the personal tailor that lives in the closet that he'd better design me some pants that fit."

Matches aren't going to do much to illuminate this place, but it's better than walking around in the pitch dark. He tries the door, and is almost surprised to find it's unlocked. It gives him the creeps for a second, wondering what kind of bizarre things could be inside any one of these abandoned buildings, but he shakes it off, lights a match, and steps inside, waiting for Charlie to follow him.

"Still can't see much of anything."

[dowhatisays]

Charlie sticks close behind, peering over Meyer's shoulder. "What the fuck do they have this place for, no one's gonna use it?"

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"Maybe someone used to use it. Seems like this whole place used to be used for something, right?"

He coughs a little; it's dusty in here.

[mentis]

He cannot stand to stay in the house alone - it is too quiet and too repressive and reminds him of the home he had before his mother had died, before Raven and he had fled it. So he's out and about, sweater still too large for him but he wears it like a shield anyway.

That's how he runs in to Charlie and Meyer, drawn in by their New York accents and the echo of past amusements. They had been good to converse with and it makes sense to speak with them in person. Too much communication is spent on those ridiculous devices.

So he moves closer, calls out in an almost cheerful manner, "Hello!"

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Meyer pauses mid-sentence, discussing something or other with Charlie -- details about the business plans, of course, because he can't stop his brain from going over and over every little detail until he's sure it's straight in his mind, even if they haven't even found a venue for their card game yet -- and turns to the sound of Charles' voice, smiling slightly.

"Good afternoon," he replies, voice friendly as always, expression of curiosity present in his eyes as always. He hasn't met Charles in person, but he recognizes him from the network, and had liked him thus far.

[dowhatisays]

Charlie looks up, a little miffed from being interrupted mid being-annoyed-at-one-of-Meyer's-ideas.

"Hello to you, too. You that professor, ain't ya?"

[mentis]

"Yes," he takes a step forward, offers out his hand in greeting to them.

"Professor Xavier. But please, call me Charles. I don't exactly have a classroom here."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

He shakes Charles' hand, nodding. "It's nice to meet you in person, Charles. I'm Meyer, and this is my business partner, Charlie." He gestures to Charlie as he lets go of the handshake.

[dowhatisays]

"Yeah, we met already. Over that what do you call it telephone shit." Charlie is being eloquent as ever in front of strangers. He is a little suspicious of Charles turning up right when they're talking business, but that's kind of a general state of being for him.

[mentis]

The very corner of Charles' mouth is threatening to tug up in amusement but he quells it.

"Oh yes, I remember! I'm glad you both had someone to turn up with. From what I hear going it alone is rather unpleasant."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"I imagine it is," Meyer agrees. Personally, he's extremely grateful Charlie showed up, as well -- there had been several hours between their arrivals, long enough that he'd started to think he was stuck here by himself. It had been an unpleasant several hours, to say the least.

A thought occurs to him: they're scouting out locations for their business, they might as well find out if Charles is a potential customer. "Do you play cards, Charles?"

[hark_and_hush]

Now that their latest ordeal is over, Ruby's trying to get back on track with hunting and that means heading to the town hall board to copy down the names of all the interested people.

She smiles in greeting as they pass her, pausing in the middle of the last name to nod in their direction. "Boys."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

They'd looked around the town hall, and ultimately decided against using it for their game, which meant they were on the way to scouting out another location when they passed Ruby. It can never hurt to drum up a little advance interest in a business, so Meyer smiles widely at her, then glances at Charlie, almost as though making sure he'll greet her, too.

"Hi," he responds, nodding at her.

[dowhatisays]

Charlie is about to look up with irritation at anyone interrupting their scheming. And then he notices who was interrupting them. Instantly a huge grin is plastered on his face, as he spins around in place to follow Ruby with his eyes as she passes them.

"Morning. You takin' care of yourself, sweetheart?"

[hark_and_hush]

"Myself and everyone else. Someone's got to hunt around here." She closes her notebook. "I just hope no one gets sick of venison any time soon."

She takes a moment to look them both up and down. "I'm Ruby, by the way."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"I doubt anyone'll get sick of it; better venison than no food at all. And it's nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Meyer."

Normally he'd introduce Charlie while he was at it, but given that grin on Charlie's face, and the way he watched Ruby as she walked by, he's pretty sure Charlie would like to introduce himself. While it may not be evident on his face, there's no small amount of internal eye-rolling going on.

[dowhatisays]

"Doing that hunting all by yourself? Now ain't that something I'd wanna see."

Yes, his charm is turned up to eleven by now, because hey this lady is talking to him and he always takes that as encouragement. And fuck you, Meyer, he does what he wants. He stretches a hand out for Ruby to shake.

"Charlie. Real pleasure to meet you."

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby's used to attention after all the attention she used to court. Nervous as it makes her at times, it's almost a welcome distraction. At least she's less nervous now that she's gone a whole wolfstime without hurting anyone. Watching Charlie turn on the charm is pretty adorable, even if she's a little more partial to Wallie's smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Meyer. Charlie." She reaches out for Charlie's hand to give it a firm shake. "It's a little hard to watch someone hunt, though. You could scare away the animals. If either of you want to learn, I'm going to try to get the hunting club together some time soon." She nods to he notebook. "I'm sure a few of us would be happy to teach."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"And Charlie would undoubtedly be happy to learn," he replies, only semi-teasingly. No need to tell her they're both good shots already -- he's pretty sure that hunting for food is markedly different than shooting at people. "I wouldn't mind learning, either; I like to keep busy."

And so far, he's going absolutely stir-crazy without anything to do around here. Small towns have never been his idea of a good time, especially not small towns like this one.