InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "They know... they all know.."

Garrick Evans (stillinbusiness) wrote in light_of_may,
@ 2010-01-11 23:54:00

Entry tags:

2009-06-29

'Cause this is just a game, it's a beautiful lie.
Who: Garrick Evans, Bartleby McGruder, and OPEN should anyone else want to stop by
Where: The Old English Armory
When: Late afternoon

It was rare to find any vampire who would willingly be up and about this time of day, when the sunshine was still bright in the sky and therefore posing a risk to any who dared step out into it. For Garrick, it was the opening day of his latest business venture, and like hell he'd be anywhere else but here. It was making his employees uneasy to have their immortal boss looking over them all day - not that they knew what he was, of course. Today he was "Mr. Evans," the geriatric patron who knew damn well what he expected from those working here today and what would happen should they disappoint him.

Carrying a cane with him helped with the image, of course. He didn't need it to walk, he just liked the effect the prop had. He wondered if the young man behind the counter thought Garrick might use it as a weapon. He could, if the need arose for it, but let's be honest. They were in a store filled with the finest antique swords and daggers money could buy. Garrick could easily be in possession of a finer, deadlier weapon - and before the mortal could so much as blink an eye.

Now Garrick was sitting in the back of his darkened office, looking over the initial reports for the day's sales. A slow start in the morning, but people were starting to trickle in now, seeing what it was all about. Soon, Garrick was sure, he'd have the business as prosperous as his others, he just needed a little time.

He sat back in his chair, fingers steepled, and looked out from his seat into the Armory, watching as a customer wandered in.

(Post a new comment)

doctorbart
2010-01-14 07:37 pm UTC (link)

Walking about town seemed like as good a way as any to spend his day, particularly because he didn't really have anything else to do while the crematorium was being installed. Whistling about he kept his focus up, hoping to catch the odd blip on his radar as far as vampires were concerned. He couldn't actually hear their thoughts like this, not as much as if he was truly focusing on one individual, but on rare occasions he'd pick up a little static. Sort of like the noise a television makes when you first turn it on before the speakers start up...only in your brain. Not knowing anyone of the exsanguination persuasion really put his plans on hold and he didn't particularly enjoy that. Time was a fleeting resource and one he couldn't afford to waste.

Walking past the antique weaponry store (antique weaponry store? What kind of town was this?), Bartleby felt just the tiniest little blip on his radar. Not much to go on but it was still something. Stopping dead in his tracks, and looking quite like was trying to figure out a particularly difficult sudoku puzzle sans paper, he stepped into The Old English Armory and looked about with quite the look of concentration on his face.

Heading over to one of the clerks he stared the boy in the eyes for a few seconds, and coming up with nothing, determined he was human. "Well hello there! What have we on sale today?"

(Reply to this) (Thread)

stillinbusiness
2010-01-16 04:27 pm UTC (link)

From his office, he watched the man in a suit walk into the building, one hand moving underneath his chin. Well, this was a difficult one to peg - Garrick wondered if he'd ever even held a weapon in his life. Many of the people coming in here today were looking for something to protect themselves against the demons that had been unleashed, as it had become apparent that beheading the creature was a surefire way to kill it. Garrick could think of a dozen others that would work as well, perhaps he ought to go seek out a demon just for kicks and see what the things were capable of.

But that, of course, was neither here nor there.

The boy he had on the floor - his name was Gregory something-or-other, wanted to be called Greg, but of course Garrick refused to comply with that - seemed at least willing to attempt to help. "That depends, what kind of weapon are you looking for?"

Garrick rolled his eyes and got up from his seat, grabbing the cane he'd left leaning against the desk. "Gregory," he said, walking out into the armory, "I'll handle this one."

The look of fear in the other man's eyes was enough, and Garrick had to suppress the urge to chuckle. Mortals, they were fun to play with. "Yes, Mr. Evans."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

doctorbart
2010-01-16 05:44 pm UTC (link)

Well this was a new face, and with a new face came the opportunity to figure out who in this building was the bloodsucker. The boy was scurrying off to some other section of the shop, didn't particularly matter though, he was of no consequence now. Smiling, Bartleby grinned at the gentleman. "You must be the proprietor of this establishment, correct?"

Stretching out his hand he looked the man dead in the eye and said simply, "I'm Dr. Bartleby McGruder, a pleasure to meet you. I'm afraid I didn't happen to catch your name before your subordinate skittered off, Mr...?" He wasn't about to order the man to tell him his name yet, no no Bartleby had learned from first hand experience that vampires tended to not respond well to direct orders. A slight compulsion might have been carried by his words, but that wasn't something he could really help.

Still, whether or not the older man gave him his name was absolutely no indication of whether or not he was a vampire. So on that note, Bartleby stared into the gentleman's eyes and attempted to hear what was going on inside his head.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stillinbusiness
2010-01-18 02:59 am UTC (link)

With the cane in his left hand, Garrick shook the good doctor's hand with his right. The temperature of his skin would likely give something away as to his physical nature, but with his appearance, one could likely just blame it on poor circulation. Garrick was aware that he looked like a frail old man, but he would be more than happy to shatter that image if the opportunity presented itself.

"Garrick Evans," he said, a hint of his British accent coming through. "Welcome to the Old English Armory, Dr. McGruder." His grip was firm and his blue eyes met Bartleby's, unflinching. Quite the cheery fellow, Bartleby was. Garrick had nothing against that, but he saw little use for it in a situation such as this. He was, as always, all business.

Anyone else might have smiled, but that wasn't Garrick's way. "Anything we can help you with?" He didn't seem like the type of man who needed a sword, but he'd been surprised before.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

doctorbart
2010-01-19 04:50 am UTC (link)

With that eye contact, Bartleby managed to listen to the man's thoughts. Business business business. Bartleby wasn't sure but it was entirely possible that the symbol for euros actually crossed his vision momentarily. Breaking the contact before the elderly (most likely very elderly) gentleman caught on, he looked around. "Well Mr. Evans, I actually just moved here and was somewhat taken off guard by the rather large amount of demon attacks. Perhaps you could suggest a means for me to arm myself and fend off some heck-spawned thugs?"

Bartleby's business had concluded with the confirmation that the gentleman was, in fact, a vampire however he couldn't leave just yet. He wasn't going to be doing business in person with the man, and he didn't want to leave a lasting impression. Leaving so suddenly after a simple handshake would come across as odd, so he decided he'd play the ignorant doctor new to town.

This would definitely not be the last he saw of Garrick Evans though.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stillinbusiness
2010-01-21 04:10 pm UTC (link)

Heck-spawned. Really, did the man just say that out loud? To call Garrick old-fashioned would be a massive understatement, but he came from the time of the British Empire thank you very much, not the 1950s. Garrick spend most of the 50s tracking down and destroying Dietrich... a fun time, to be sure, and Dietrich had deserved the retribution he received, but it left little time to worry about what was going on in the rest of the world.

But then again, anyone he met could potentially be of use to him in the future, and with that in mind Garrick certainly wasn't about to run the man out of the store. "They say one of the easiest ways to kill a demon is to behead it." He waved a hand to the many swords gathered on the wall. "While some may not want to use an... shall we say, time-tested way of defending themselves, any of our swords would certainly do the trick." He examined the doctor for a second, "Have you ever held a weapon, Dr. McGruder?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

doctorbart
2010-01-25 04:00 am UTC (link)

Bartleby looked about the various weapons collected, turning back to answer Mr. Evans' question. "Just a fencing foil for a little while back in college. While I'm quite sure I could puncture anything without too tough a carapace, I don't think I could really behead anything with a rapier. I'm afraid I might be just a tad...green as far as practical battling is concerned."

He was done here, anything from here on in was just gravy. Acquiring a sword would be rather nice to dangle over his mantle. "What would you suggest sir?" If this gentleman was an actual user of any of these weapons this would probably ruffle some feathers or at least get a chuckle. Then again, this fellow was all business, there was a decent chance that he wouldn't shirk a customer about to purchase items from him.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stillinbusiness
2010-01-26 03:48 am UTC (link)

"Fencing, a fine activity, one I haven't indulged in since my youth." Which was a very, very long time ago, but Garrick wasn't about to say that. He'd graduated from foils pretty quickly, back then, and he'd never looked back. "Most people are, these days. A pity really, such a valuable skill lost in time."

Garrick plucked a rapier off the wall, holding it with such ease and grace that it was obvious that it was his weapon of choice. Behind the counter, Gregory the sales associate blinked in barely-concealed horror, not realizing his elderly boss was capable of that. "I would, of course, go with the rapier. But as you've said it's beyond your experience, perhaps something smaller would work. Well-concealed daggers will do the trick just as well if you play your cards right, or have you your heart set on a sword?"

(Reply to this) (Parent)