Chickey

Charles picked up his drink and took a sip. He gave a grin and a thumbs up. It kinda looked like something he'd order at a coffee shop due to the milky appearance of it. And his love of stuff like that made it a pretty good match for him. "Now I know why Masun spends to much time here." He said with a chuckle before listening to Tally. He spun his chair around, catching a view of the group before the seat did a full three-sixty. Now facing Tally again he replied. "I see your point mate." He started. "But." He added as he took another sip. "Would you like to know the one thing I both off the top of my head fear and hate the most?" He asked rhetorically. "Agendas." He knew the statement was pretty vague so he explained it further. "Or more specifically, people with agendas. More specifically beyond that, people who no matter what you say as a acquaintance, friend, or lover, will religiously and unconditionally hold fast to their mission or goals. People like that aren't safe to be around and you want to distance yourself as far as possible from them, and I know that from experience." He explained. "Just because someone cares about you doesn't always make you more important that their agenda." "...So, while it may be a paranoid way to look at things, it is also a safe way to look at things. And my concern is whether or not anyone I'm currently in the company of is one of those kinds of people." He finished.

"I'll go with option two mate. I'm always willing to try something more daring." He replied before pausing. "I suppose I did. And while most people get the impression I'm a pretty upbeat guy with thick skin I would be bloody lying if I ever claimed to have no personal problems." He explained to pass time while he waited for his drink. "For instance." Charles started as he pulled out his phone and began to run through a list. "With the rule that parents don't count, despite all the contacts I have on my phone, I don't have a single person who would ever give me a call just to see how I'm doing. If I were to just... die tomorrow it wouldn't really effect anybody but the person who has to find a replacement for me. For a person who spends all his time chasing people all over four counties, the fact that there is someone out there that cares is something I put high up on my list of wants." He explained with a rather casual tone. "In the past this hasn't really been a problem. But once I began to have people who think that way about me and give me a ring every once in a while I knew what I had been missing. Which is naturally why I began to miss it when those people always found their ways of." Charles paused and looked up to Tally and away from his phone. "No longer being able to." He finished and put away his phone. "So sometimes I begin to wonder. Even though my job feels right to me it hasn't been without some big downsides. Would I choose the path of adventure again that brought me right here at this bar knowing that? Or would I be better off ignorant, even jobless, roaming the Australian countryside and wrestling crocodiles and kickboxing with kangaroos to pass the time?" He concluded with a laugh.

Charles sipped down the rest of his drink to the pass the time. Eventually he noticed Sam go home and leave the bar. With everything seemingly running smoothly at the table he decided to go to the bar. "Gonna get a bit of a refill mates" He said as he got up. Charles wasn't someone who liked to have alcohol at all really. He liked the taste of it, however it's effect on his aim always caused him to stray away. But since he wasn't on any job right now he figured today was an exception. He walked over to the bar and sat down. "G'day mate." He opened up as he sat down. Few people seemed to be at the bar besides him and the bartender Tally which he was thankful for. "I don't suppose you could make me some sort of Absinthe cocktail?" He asked. "If I haven't lost all my money at blackjack I guess that puts me in the 'sad saps who have personal problems' category eh?" He added.

Charles lightly punched Masun on the shoulder with a laugh. "Told ya mate." However he was a bit disappointed that it wasn't him who got to figure it out. With that mystery over and his crab legs gone to Franky he didn't have much to do anymore. He turned to Tally before she left "Nice drink by the way. It's not often I get to have a glass of grog I like." He commented.

Charles was too shaken up to bother scolding Franky. Besides, between the Chinese food from earlier and the food he was able to eat at the buffet he was already full anyways. At this point there wasn't much of a point to not finish his drink so he continued to take sips every now and then.

Charles walked over to the lounge and to the coffee machine. He started to make himself a dark coffee to relax after the previous exchange. After a few minutes he had a fresh cup. As he picked the cup up and went to take a sip he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Charles?" A female voice asked. Startled, he went to turn around, but when he did all he saw was Masun instead. He was back at the casino, now awake in his seat. It seems that Masun had brought him out of it while mimicking the same thing that was happening in his dream. "Huh?"... I'm fine I'm fine. Alcohol and me don't mix well mate." He said with a chuckle as a damage control.

Charles reluctantly grabbed one of the drinks and eyed Tally. Trying to see if he could gain any information on her. But that soon ended when she spoke to him. Usually Charles would of had a quick humorous retort, but her accusation seemed to catch him off guard in a way. His casual expression seemed to unhinge. "Heh, uh, no not me either mate... I think we're all single here actually." He said forcing a small chuckle as he took a sip. His tone even sounded somewhat unnatural as compared to his usual one. After that Charles sat back in his seat with his drink and tried to go under the radar for now. *Crack* Charles' eyes jolted as he heard something that no one else at the table seemed to hear. Under his shades his reaction wasn't very noticeable. He tried to forget it but after a few seconds he heard something that sounded like flesh being sliced by a blade. Followed by more cracks and snaps. Sounding more like bones being broken by the second and followed by cries of pain. Then loud steel like bangs and gunshots. He knew exactly what it was. It slowly intensified over time until he placed his hand on his forehead and shut his eyes. By that time the intensity of the sounds no longer resembled snaps, screams, and slices, but instead a mass of loud static noise. He opened his eyes, the noise abruptly turning off, but when he did, he was no longer in the casino sitting by the group. He was in the Australian Area building. He was by himself in his old office, the complete silence as compared to the sounds he heard before was relieving. Charles knew what was happening rather quickly when he glanced at the calender. It was set nearly four years into the past, only about five months after he joined the AREA program. He was reliving a past memory via flashback. Something he was rather prone to every once in a while. He could never really change or control anything, it was more like watching a movie through his own eyes most of the time. The same thoughts he thought at the time often even flash into his mind as it happens. His office was rather plain looking, a few bought nick knacks decorated the room but besides that it paled in comparison to his current room. However the room was at the end of the day just an office compared to a full pseudo-apartment in the American area. He made the trip back home frequently and lived there most of the time. Since he was just a normal human Area 10 didn't really have a problem with it either. After a few moments he heard a call on the intercom of the building. "Charles Foss please report to the Director's office." Said a middle aged mans voice. Charles looked up to the intercom with an irritated face as the message played out. He got up with a sigh and made his way out of the room and into the hallway. Area 10's hallways weren't that much different than 51's. The colors were mostly tropical military uniform colored, sandy tan and shades of brown and green. The place had a few potted plants and pictures on the walls but overall the layout of the rooms was similar. Charles seemed to fit in rather well as he made his way to the Director's office. After a brief stroll he arrived at the door to the office. Charles opened it without thinking that much and leaned up against the frame of the door, halfway in the room. "You called mate?" He asked. A rather muscular man sat at a desk at the other side of the room, presumable the same one who used the intercom. He had ear length blonde hair combed to the side, scruffy mustache, a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a plain blue tie. "Indeed I did." The man said. He rested his head on his hands with his elbows on the table for support. "I have an assignment for you." He continued. Unlike Charles the man didn't have a strong accent. "Why... didn't you just send it over to me like usual?" Charles asked, confused. "Because it's not like the rest. It requires a little briefing." He explained. "Please come in all the way and shut the door" Charles reluctantly got out of his lanky posture leaned up against the door and walked inside, shutting the door. He sat down and looked to the man who just stared at him. "Care to cue me in, boss?" He asked. The man thought for a few seconds before he dropped his hands and sat up straight in his chair. "It has come to my attention that out of all the agents here, you are the only one without any group experience. All the time you spend not on solo missions you just sit in your office, refuse to go on team missions, drink our coffee, go home, give it a wank, and go to bed. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but you need to realize you aren't working at fucking Diary Queen." He started, sounding a bit aggravated. The director pulled over a small model train set that ran in a circle. "You see this, you see this right here?" "I know this one mate." Charles replied quickly and raised his hand like a school student. "Wasted money and time on a pointless hobby?" He answered with a grin. The director didn't bother to reply and simply moved on. "A train set, but not just a train set in this case. In this case this here train set is going to resemble a group unit, our Area. The tracks are be our area agents. And the train is productivity." He explained and spun his hand around the tracks. "When every track is straight and ship shape the productivity train continues going smoothly. But..." He continued and pulled off one of the tracks. "What happens when one of the tracks isn't participating at his best?" He asked and then placed the train track outside of the set. "This one here is gonna represent you Charles." He whispered and tapped the missing track. At this point the Director had a rather crazed attitude. "It... crashes?" "IT GETS FUCKED UP!" The director yelled back immediately and smashed the whole train set off the desk with his fist before the model train even had the chance to derail on the missing space, causing Charles to jump in surprise and cover his face from any debris. "When someone isn't participating it slows down the productivity train and puts a burden on the rest of the agency! Assignments that should be shared by you pile up on others instead! People could get overworked, agents that don't have the right skill set could be used in your place, the productivity train could get... fucked up!" He ranted. "...But no longer will this go unpunished." Charles looked at him, uncovering his face. He sounded a bit calmer now. "Area 14 in Japan is sending over someone. They aren't an agent, but they are of interest to the organization. Instead of bothering someone else with this task, you will personally be taking care of them this time during their stay here. They aren't Area 14's problem now, or our problem, they are your problem." He explained. Charles took a few moments. "I don't think you bloody understand Nigel. I ca-" "No I don't think you understand Charles, you will do this, and you will do it right or I will stomp your guts out like the goddamn productivity train over in the corner." Nigel said, pointing to the broken remains of the train set at the other side of the room. "You don't have to take them out on missions. They aren't your partner. You just have to make sure nothing bad happens. It's first grade." The Director explained coldly. "...Yes sir." Charles replied plainly. "Now get out of my office." He Finished. Charles tipped his hat and made his way to the door. He opened it and stepped outside back into the hall. His mood considerably worsened as compared to when he walked in. (Hopefully I didn't make any huge typos. Too tired to correct things right now)

Charles listened and cracked open a crab leg and started to eat. He wasn't someone who usually drank at all, so he replied with what he usually did when drinks were brought up. "I'll have a long Island Iced Tea but with no 'Long Island'." He requested and then went back to his food. "So, I don't suppose anybody has any questions or stories for each other. This is the first time we've all been out. Might as well get to know each other a bit more past basic introductions eh?" He commented.

"That only means that she likely isn't one of the above. Not to mention it's possible to hide some of their traits, including smell, for some of those powers." Charles persisted before getting up. "I'm gonna go grab a plate mate, be right back." He said as he walked over to the food. He grabbed a plate and dished up some seafood and returned to the table as quick as he could.

Charles thought as he made his way over to the table Masun sat at. He waved to Franky at his table in a attempt to call him over and then sat down. Tally, tally, tally. You gotta be something. Today might be too boring if you aren't something. Yet there isn't enough information... But that's what makes it fun. After a few moments of thinking to himself silently, he looked over to Masun. With only the two at the table at the time and with him not saying anything for a bit he felt the situation might of been a bit awkward. He leaned back with his arms crossed and spoke with a serious of a tone. "So what do you think mate. That Tally chick. She's gotta have powers. I know a power user when I spot one. And that. is. one. right. there." He explained, tapping his finger down on the table and pausing in between the last five words. "The only problem is that she hasn't given any giveaways yet... Unless she's some kind of drink leprechaun. A liquorchaun. That would explain why she takes her job so seriously. Catch her and she'll give you a keg of booze at the end of a rainbow. Splash her in the face with a four leaf shamrock shake and she'll melt." He continued, still sounding serious despite his absurd accusation.

Charles' smile slowly dissipated to a uncharacteristic deadpan blank face as he watched Tally leave. Not afraid to walk away and seems rather calm by herself right after a beating, doesn't make a big deal about how Matchstick 'did what he did' whatever that was. Nor does she seem to want to call the police. Not really a normal person's reaction. More of an interesting reaction to me. He finished thinking, his face returning to normal as he looked to the group. "Well, me and our new mate Franky here were gonna go to the buffet. Not sure if that's gonna impede on whatever you were planning." He said. "And who was the girl? You better give me a name before I come up with another nickname instead."

Charles looked back and saw Masun and Tally. He looked a bit confused at first but then gave a small grin. "You had to... take the trash out?" He said, and pointed over to Tally. "Well if she was causing a tussle at the bar you didn't have to put her through the ole meat grinders before kicking her out did ya?" He joked, putting his fists up when he said 'meat grinders'.

Charles followed him inside and looked back to Sam. "Yeah, if there is anything I learned, it's to never irritate the leadership. Masun doesn't count though, he's just too fun." He said. "In the past, if I ever did anything irritating I'd usually get big kitchen knives hucked at me. And those fuckers were sharp too. But then again, it was exciting some times." He finished with a shrug.

Charles gave a sigh at his decision. "Fair enough." He commented and moved on with him over to Sam. "Sleepy Eyes, we meet again mate. Though a few moments ago you looked more like Pukey Stomach." He started. "So what brings you out here? I don't suppose the bloody Maneater Tag Team is gonna show up too? If they're coming for food too, make sure to tell them that the waiters and waitresses aren't part of the all you can eat buffet." He finished.

Charles walked up to Franky. "That didn't go too well did it mate?" Charles said with a chuckle. "The way I see it, we got three options. I could go ruff him up a bit and you can take notes, you could go back in for round two and get some hands on experience, or we can just say 'to hell with it', leave him be, and walk away. Your choice." He explained.

Charles stepped out of the car and looked over to Franky, who already seemed like he was about to get into a fight. He heard something midst the crowd and turned to see Sam looking nauseous not too far from them. He gave a chuckle at the situation and watched the Franky situation to see what the outcome would be.

Charles eyed Franky. "Aesthetically I think you're set mate. We should be good for now. Anything else we'll pick up later." He replied and led him back to the car. Once they got in Charles set the GPS to the casino and drove there. "Oi, Franky, I think we're here." He said as he looked over to Franky and unlocked the doors.

Charles was holding a small moose snowglobe when Franky had contacted him. He didn't realize his radio's volume was turned all the way up and Franky's voice startled him, causing him to lose grip of the object. He frantically juggled the snowglobe in the air as he tried to not drop it. Once he finally got his grip back he placed it on the shelf and pulled the walkie talkie from his belt and responded. "Yeah mate, sounds good to me." He then made his way out of the store in search of Franky. After a couple of minutes Charles tapped Franky on the shoulder from behind. "Peekaboo." he commented. How he found him so quickly in the sea of people was unknown, but his spooky tracking skills were probably to blame.

Charles entered the building and found the food court rather quickly. He ordered some Chinese food and sat down at a table by himself. Once his order him came he ate and observed the scenery around him. All the people making their way to their destinations. All the people with something to do. An agenda to complete. While he himself didn't have much of a plan at all. He simply just goes with the flow. Charles gave a sigh and went back to finishing his meal. Once he was done he disposed of the leftover trash and started to walk around and wait for Franky. Charles eventually found himself in a sporting goods store. He browsed weapons and hunting equipment to pass the time.

Charles got out of the car once they arrived. Once he closed the door behind him he turned to Franky. "Alright mate, since I presume you haven't done this yet. Once you get inside find the directions or map sign. On that should be directions to all the stores. Make sure you go to the ones in the bloody men's clothing section too. Besides that, knock yourself out and have a good ole time. I'll likely be in the sporting goods store or the food court myself." He explained before thinking for a few seconds. "Oh yeah, I'll almost forgot." Charles said as he reached into the car and rustled through a bag for a few moments. He pulled out two compact black walkie talkie radios and tossed one over to Franky. "Since you and me are gonna be like two peas in a pod while I train you, we might as well have some communication. Make sure not to lose it, they're really well made and cost me a lot of money. But breaking it shouldn't be a problem. Once you're done shopping, just press the button on the side and talk somewhat close to it and I'll be able to hear you. We'll have to decide on codenames later, but mine has always been Smiley." He said as he closed the door and locked it and started to walk away. "Toodles." He finished with a wave.

Charles had the stereo on in Franky's absence, but when he notice him return he turned it off. He opened the passenger seat's door and waited for him to get back in. "So, I take it that went well." He said. "Now onto the clothes situation. I presume ya wanna go to the mall right? That'll probably have the most options." Charles asked.

Charles saw Franky stop talking and go into his mind cave so he returned his focus on driving. He took the time to think about various things while he could, but after a while they had arrived in Las Vegas. Charles didn't pay much attention to the scenery and just followed the directions right to the bank. He parked the car and looked over to Franky. "Well, 'ere we are mate. I'll let you take it from here." He said as he unlocked the car doors so he could get out.

"Well fightin' isn't something' I can teach well while I'm drivin' a car." Charles said with a chuckle as he thought. "However I can give you a few pieces of advice. Fightin' power users is a whole new ball game compared to regular humans. It's always smart to find out what their powers are before going in. Less you wanna get your ass handed to ya." He explained. "With that bein' said, If you know what their powers are beforehand, rushing them can sometimes work if you know what to look out for. When I'm not at a distance with my rifle, overwhelming them quickly or waiting for them to make a bogan's mistake and punishing them for it tends to be my strategy." Charles continued.

Charles started the car and backed up and onto the street. He began to drive to the nearest highway and placed his phone up on a holder by the console and pulled up a GPS app. He set it to take them to the nearest bank. "I see. Well there isn't really an introductory class to the supernatural. It's gonna be a pretty broad new world for ya. Is there anything specific you want to know about anythin' mate? Various types of powers, how to combat them or their weaknesses, the bloody A.R.E.A. program in general? etcetera etcetera." He asked.

Charles stepped out of the elevator. "I think I can help you out with that mate. Though I have to ask, is there anything you want to learn first? And what kind of things do you want to do around here? Everyone usually has a tendency for something." He asked as he made his way out of the building and over to his car. Charles pulled his car keys from his pocket and unlocked the the doors. He stepped inside and waited for Franky.