| Details for Just Another Day at the Book Store |
| Summary: | The effects on the Terrorist Attack on South Verdic as seen through Books Unbound. |
| Date: | 1939-07-26 |
| Location: | Books Unbound |
| Related: | Attack on the Alleys |
| Characters |
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Shortly after the attacks began, Thomas quickly moved the patrons in the store into the back room, before moving back out into his store front, his wand drawn. His mind move was to cast the Unbreakable charm on both his window and door, while the one on the window had a better effect then door, it seemed as if it would hold for the time being, then a Shield Charm, was cast over the area of his door and window. As people began to burst into flames he cast the Impervius Charm on the inside area around his door and window, which no one can blame him for his store is basically a giant kindling store.
As the attacks had begun to dwindle down, the patrons protected in the back along with Sampson and Quincy, had begun to come out and Thomas could be seen sitting on a stool by the bar, simply staring out the door, where the burnt crisp corpse was being pulled off by Mediwizards, Thomas' normal smile replaced with a rather harsh frown as he allows the patrons who wish to leave to head out. While the inside of the store seems to have avoided the chaos, the outside of his shop, is stained in black, the wood burnt and several spots were fallen had spent their last moments. Thomas however simply moves over in his silence to start to make a cup of coffee.
Brandy was in her office at the Ministry when everything happened - and it wasn't long before the entire place with buzzing with the rumors of multiple magical attacks. Hearing that at least one of the locations was on Verdic though sent Brandy into something of a panic. "I… have to go," she hastily yells at no one in particular, running to the elevator, which was absolutely packed. She squeezes in somehow, getting down to the atrium - wincing at the nearly deafening roar of voices in the cavernous and tiled space. She takes the floo out of the Ministry, and Apparates to just outside the book shop - the majority of activity seems to be around Peppy Potions, though, much to her relief. The air is still heavy with the smell of char, as she watches bodies being removed, a troubled frown tugging at her features. The book shop shows some signs of the conflagration, but looks relatively in tact.
Still. There's no guarantee that the people she's worried about were inside when all of this happened. Pulling the door open, Brandy calls out. "Thomas? Thomas!" But there he is - fixing a coffee. Typical. "I, uh… I came to check on Sampson," she says a bit lamely, glancing around the store at the few people left inside.
In the back room of the store Sampson has completely slept through the whole thing, the young boy having found himself a nice place to sleep behind a large wall of boxes. He was no where to be found during the incident in question itself, and as of current it hardly even aware of it reasonably so, as he quietly snores away. Though for the moment he remains rather hard to find much to the dismay of Quincy who can currently be seen sitting at the table, holding his hands around the mug of coffee, almost in a state of shock from what he'd witnessed moments ago.
Elise was here getting books for school. Dressed neatly in a bright bronze-colored robe with matching ribbons in her braided hair, she spent the entire attack glued into place between a couple of tall shelves, with a fantastic view of the chaos outside - including the grisly death of a passer-by. She stands there still, three books clutched to her chest, dark eyes impossibly wide, face pale as a sheet. A very quiet whimper occasionally escapes when she lets out a breath.
Thomas finishes brewing his coffee and simply tucks away his wand, nodding for a moment at Brandy before he leans against against the bar, his hand moving to get his silver cigarette case, which pops open, only for his hands to suddenly begin shaking, dropping the case on the bar and causing all his Chesterfield brand cigarettes to bounce and fall out of the case. Thomas stands there staring at them all, then at his hands shaking. "They are okay, Brady." he says in a rather shaken voice. "Everyone in here wasn't hurt…" he explains slowly, his shaking hand moving to try and pick up one of the cigarettes.
That's a relief. That's definitely a relief. "Look, you just sit down and I'll-" Brandy starts, moving towards him, before her gaze registers the young girl standing transfixed between some shelves. "Oh, my dear, come sit down and I'll fix you a cup of tea," she offers, moving towards Elise instead, reaching out slowly to gently take her elbow in an attempt to guide her to the counter. "Who'd you come shopping with today, dear?"
Quincy moves rather slowly helping to pick up several of the fallen cigarettes. His free hand never leaves his mug of coffee however, as he does so, his grip tight enough that it could almost break it where he a younger stronger man then he is. He seems a bit shaken himself, but for the most part remains quiet.
Elise is quite malleable - she'll go exactly where Brandy moves her, and sit in the seat, still clutching those books and whimpering. "M - my - my Uncle," she stammers out. "Uncle Th - Theo. He w - went d - down the sssss - street with Luci and - and O - Oliver!" She closes her mouth again but her teeth are audibly chattering.
Thomas finally manages to get a cigarette in his hands and pinched between his lips, his shaking hand moving his lighter up as he after a few moments of struggle gets an edge of it lit, taking a hard drag off of it, he starts to slowly sink behind the bar, "He…" he says shaking his head closing his eyes, "I had too… you saw it right…" he says taking a few hard quick drags off his cigarette, "If I would have…" he says taking another even harder longer drag, "Let him in… tried to help him… the whole place would have gone up…" he says his legs moving to his chest, "I had too…" he says slowly.
"Well - I'll tell you what. You're going to stay right here until your Uncle comes back for you. We can post a sign out front with your name so your folks know to come here and find you," Brandy offers reassuringly. "And we should send an owl to your home. Thomas." Her attention shifts to the clearly traumatized man - concern and sympathy on her features. "Thomas, you made the right choice. I need to know - do you have an owl we can use? Or perhaps one of your neighbors might?"
Returning her attention to Elise she adds, "I'm Brandy Sweetwater. And this here is Thomas Carrow, and Quincy Smith. What's your name, dear?" She moves to the other side of the counter, giving Thomas a hug, and a kiss on his cheek, before she starts to fix the girl a tea.
Taking a moment to drink a large gulp from his mug of coffee, Quincy comes back to a stand, his beard somewhere in length between Santa, and Merlin, having been given a good number of years to grow. He moves slightly over towards the girl, quickly flicking his hand to reveal a one pound bank note, without ever reaching into a pocket or, moving much at all. "I'm sure everything will be fine" He quickly folds it about into the shape of a small owl, holding it flush on the palm of his hand. "You want to send out a note to him?"
"I sss - saw it," Elise tells Thomas, lips quivering and eyes full of as-yet unshed tears. She nods at him, blinks, and those big tears roll right down her too-pale cheeks. She sniffles a little bit and looks up at Brandy. "Elise Harper!" she wails. "Nice to meeeeeet youuuuuu!" Quincy's effort to cheer her up at least has the benefit of distracting her for a moment or two. She nods at his question. "Yes, please," she says meekly.
Thomas takes another hard long drag, the cigarette is already down to the butt, but he doesn't seem to notice. He reaches up to try and find his coffee as Brandy gives him a hug, trying to give her a smile, though thoughts are too busy rushing through his head, "I had to Brandy…" he says shaking his head, taking a deep breath, "Owl… he says slowly." looking up at the tree, "Yeah in the tree, "Javert…" he says slowly. Trying to take a drag off a cigarette that has burnt out.
"I know. You had to. You had to protect your customers, like Elise here." Brandy smiles at Thomas. She'd like to freak out a little, herself. But given how shaken everyone else is - probably best if she keeps her cool. She fixes Elise a nice, hot tea, setting it in front of the girl before adding, "I'll get you some parchment and a quill so you can write a message - or I'll write it for you, if you'd rather. Then we'll send Javert to your home, alright?" she reassures the girl. She glances briefly out the window, to the chaos still going on out there - there are doubtlessly more people out there who could use some help, as well. But she feels like she has more than enough on her hands in here.
Suddenly with no real provocation Quincy's expression begins to crack somewhat as he asks "W-what did you say your last name was?" The coffee mug in Quincy's hand being sat to the ground beside him. The elderly man trying to keep calm as something behind the mask of a smile begins to break.
Elise reaches for the tea, only just now realizing that the books in her hands are still there. She sets those down on the counter, and tries again to pick up the tea, but her hands are shaking too badly. She just wraps her fingers around it, instead, and bows her head over the aromatic steam rising from it. "I'm sh - shaking too much," she squeaks out. "Can you wr - write it, please?" She glances over at Quincy, hunches her shoulders a bit, and says, "Elise Harper, sir."
Thomas nods slowly, "Yeah I had too…" he suddenly says, realizing he isn't taking any more hits off his cigarette and simply dropping the burnt out one and reaching into his pocket for his case, only to realize it isn't there with a look of confusion, before he reaches up and pulls another one down and lights it up again, "But everyone is okay… that's all that matters…" he says to himself, "Thomas you did right." he says nodding a few times too many.
"I'm happy to, Elise," Brandy responds - digging out a quill, ink and parchment from near the register. She takes this over to the tea counter, pushing herself up onto a seat, and giving the now-rattled Quincy an uncertain look. Oh, please hold it together, old man. She can only take care of so many people at once! "Shall I start it, 'Dear Mom and Dad'?" she asks, dipping her quill into the ink. "Or I could put, 'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Harper, I'm writing to you on your daughter's behalf,'" she proposes.
Thomas steals her attention briefly, as Brandy looks up at him with another reassuring smile. "I'm glad you were able to protect yourself and your customers. I was worried." She reaches out to try to capture and squeeze his hand. She'd been so worried that his shop might have been the /target/. And that it might have been because of the guests she'd foisted on him.
"Elise Harper" Quincy repeats rather quietly, looking down towards the bar for a few moments, as he sits down. He flicks his hand the small origami owl vanishing into thin air, as he takes in a sharp breath, not quiet sure what to say other than "Tristan's little girl," speaking just barely above a whisper as he tries to hold it together, taking a long sip from the mug of coffee.
"If… if they'd come inside," Elise says in her squeaky little girl voice to Thomas, "Then all the books and everything would have caught fire. That smoke would have come in — in here," she says. "I'm not — not ready to die, yet." She turns her big eyes to Brandy. Somehow the tea is having a bit of a calming effect on her. She nods. "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Harper," she agrees. "Tell them I'm well, where I am, and ask them to come and get me as soon as they can. Tell them I don't know where Uncle Theo is, or Luci or Oliver, either." More tears spill down her cheeks and she is this close to sobbing. Those tear-filled eyes turn to Quincy. "Do you know my Dad?" she asks in a tiny voice.
Thomas finally manages to push himself up off the floor, his hand moving to take up his coffee and forcing a long hard drink of it. "How bad is it out there…" He looks at Brandy, taking a deep breath. He is obviously about to fall apart again, but is trying to hold it together now. Trying to push it all away for the time being, yes he just killed a man, not directly, but he didn't try and save him either. His eyes close and he shakes his head, "Are you okay Brandy?" he finally asks, a sudden look of concern on his face. The Elise talks and Thomas smiles at her softly, "Us Carrow's don't let our customers die." he tells her with a wink as he takes a drag off his cigarette.
Quincy is given an odd look, before Brandy gets down to the work of writing down the message. "Got it," she promises the girl as she writes. 'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Harper, I'm writing to you on behalf of your daughter. She is fine, but there's been an emergency on Diagon Alley and Verdic Alley. She is waiting with us in Unbound Books for you to come and retrieve her. The whereabouts of Theo, Lucy and Oliver is currently unknown. Please come here immediately - she needs to be with her family, now. Sincerely, Brandy Sweetwater.'
"I'm completely fine, Thomas. I was at the Ministry when… well. Rumors started to circulate there rather quickly." She looks over her finished letter, offering it to Elise to read, as she puts down the quill. "There we are. Straight and to the point. Are Luci and Oliver your cousins…?" Or possibly siblings.
Quincy moves the coffee in front of him, looking down into the mug "Tristan was a good kid" He explains while swirling around the contents of his mug of coffee. "Haley used to love when he'd visi-" The elderly man trails off sipping his coffee, to try and keep a rather happy expression across his face with a good deal of difficulty.
"Thank you, Mr. Carrow," Elise says - truly, obviously grateful that he took the measures he did. She wipes the tears off of her cheeks long enough to look at the letter. "Luci is spelled with an i," she notes, but doesn't have anything else to change. "Thank you, miss." She fumbles a handkerchief out of her pocket and blows her nose. "Haley was my father's youngest aunt," she said, and blink-blinks at Quincy.
Thomas looks at Brandy a confused look on his face, "Diagon too… wait…" he says shaking his head, clearly trying to shake something off, "You said Verdic… all of Verdic? North Verdic?" he says his brow furrowed, looking rather serious, more serious then Thomas almost ever looks. He takes a long hard drag off his cigarette as he looks at the door, then back at Brandy.
"Well - I'm sure they'll understand the spelling error," Brandy says with some amusement, opting not to change it. She makes sure the ink is try before she folds the letter, and turns her attention up towards Thomas's owl. "Javert," she calls him, holding up the letter, before Thomas steals her attention.
"Well - things were a little unclear. Some of the rumors said Diagon, some said Verdic…" For all she knows, it was Hogsmeade, too! "I don't really know the full extent of this… tragedy."
Looking over towards Quincy she adds, "You ever plan on giving us a straight story here, Quincy?" she asks in a dry tone.
Thomas takes another hard drag off his cigarette, still in a bit of shock he walks over and takes his hat off the rack, because yes hats are certainly important when the world has gone to hell. "I will be right back." he says clearly. His hand moving up to run across his forehead, "I need to go check on Mikhale…" he explains, before he simply opens the door and walks out not waiting for any protests. He has to make sure his brother is okay, he has to get to Steele Travel.
"Maybe someday," Quincy say rather calmly watching as his most gracious host makes his way out from the groups presence. He takes another sip of the mugs contents finishing off the mug completely, before looking back to the young girl, with a friendly smile. "Besides, that was a long time ago."
Elise looks a little bit doubtful about Brandy's assurance that her parents will understand, but she nods like an obedient little girl would. She tells Brandy her address, then. "Harper's Warren." So the owl can deliver the message. She watches Thomas walk out for a moment, and then turns to Quincy at last. "Quincy?" she asks. "That was Hayley's husband's… name…" she trails off, realizing that she's speaking to the widower of her great-aunt. "Oh, I'm sorry," she whispers.
"Maybe someday," Quincy say rather calmly watching as his most gracious host makes his way out from the groups presence. He takes another sip of the mugs contents finishing off the mug completely, before looking back to the young girl, with a friendly smile. "Besides, that was a long time ago."
"I'll hold down the fort!" Brandy calls after Thomas - sparing him a worried look as he leaves. The matter of the owl is soon sorted, and the creature sent on its way to deliver the important message. She then turns her attention to Quincy.
"You married a witch?" Brandy asks with some surprise. "You should have just told me that, you know," she remarks a bit dryly. She reaches behind the counter to pull out a brownie for herself, and one for Elise, as well. "If you don't tell Thomas, I won't," she teases, glancing towards the window again. "Actually… I imagine there's more than a few other people who could use a baked good, right now." Does it make up for anything? No. But it could help, regardless. Small kindnesses…
"You saw how Sampson reacted, how could you expect me to tell him?" Quincy flips the now empty mug of coffee upside down onto the table in front of him "Let alone tell you," He looks rather deep in thought for a few moments, starting to do a simple trick, before just stopping mid motion, and folding his hands over his mouth. "Seems like it's impossible to keep any secret for too long these days."
Elise takes the brownie and has a bite, but it doesn't look like she's enjoying it at all. She puts the rest of it down and rather bravely makes herself swallow the bite she did take. She is finally steady enough to lift her cup of tea and take a sip.
"Sooner or later, he ought to know. Maybe it would help him adjust - to know that you were a part of this world, once." Certainly, it will make Brandy's job easier. She doesn't have to worry as much about Quincy not being able to 'pass' as part of the wizarding world.
Pulling out two fresh pieces of parchment, Brandy starts to scrawl out two messages. One says 'Elise Harper is waiting here' - with Elise Harper in large letters. The other says 'Free tea and pastries to those in need.' "Let me go post these outside. I'll be back in a moment."
"Well be careful out there while you do," Quincy starts to push himself up from the seat at the bar moving around for another mug of coffee, "How is your father anyway" Quincy trying his best to keep himself calm, and together, while he pours the mug full to the brim.
Elise's face sort of crumples. "I don't know!" she wails in answer to how her father's doing. "Our shop - what if he was hurt, too?! He wasn't supposed to be at work today - but what if he stopped in? He's always stopping in!" She suddenly breaks into great big loud sobs.
"I'll be fine!" Brandy calls back. Stepping outside, she uses the sticking charm to attach her two hastily made signs, before looking up and down the street. Seeing a distraught woman sitting on the side of the street she approaches her to say gently, "Ma'am? Come inside for cup of tea, won't you? Best to get off the street. Come on." She tries to help the woman to her feet, and into the shop.
With a bit of a warm smile, Quincy turns back towards the crying girl, sitting down the mug onto the table before saying rather calmly. "Now hey, I'm sure they wouldn't want to see you crying like this, when they come marching right through that door," His voice sounding warm and kind as he leans against the bars surface, a small smile held beneath his rather long beard.
Elise sobs a little bit more loudly and throws herself into Quincy's arms, getting half lost in the beard. "Oh, Uncle Quincy!" she sobs. "I'm scared!"
Brandy returns a moment later, her arm around the waist of a woman who walks rather shakily. She smiles a bit sadly at the sight of the sodden hug, and deposits her unfortunate on a stool. "I'm sure Javert will find your parents soon, Elise," she soothes as she starts to fix the woman a cup of tea, completely unaware of the conversation that happened while she was outside.
Thomas comes trotting back in a light jog, though his hat is gone. Seeing Brandy outside he moves to help her help the old lady inside, "Still out of the country." he tells Brandy with an obvious look of relief on his face, as he continues to pinch the burnt out cigarette between his lips. He leans in and whispers something to Brandy, before he spots the signs. Tilting his head curiously, all he can manage to get out is, "I hope we don't run out of Brownies." he says as he leans against the bar.
Quincy quietly reassures the young girl that it's all going to turn out fine in the end, allowing her to hug him long as she really needs to, sitting his coffee mug back down onto the bar top, his beard coincidentally trapped against the table near the bottom leaving little real way for him to pull away from the hug even if he wanted to.
There is a sudden crack as two people Apparate just outside the door to the shop, and rush in - Mr. and Mrs. Harper, a well-dressed and lovely couple. Mr. Tristan Harper doesn't recognize Quincy right away - mostly because he's got eyes only for his daughter. "Elise!" he cries, in unison with his wife.
Elise turns around and flies off the stool, throwing herself into her mother's arms like the stressed little girl she is. "Mum!" she bawls. "Dad! I was so frightened! I don't know where Uncle Theo is, or Luci or Oliver!"
Brandy gives Thomas a grim look, followed by a brief hug. It'd sure /sounded/ bad from the panic the Ministry had gone into, and the way things'd looked on the street…
"I hope you don't mind. I just figured - well. People are in a shock. But a bit of tea…" Well, they're British! Tea always helps! She sets the prepared cup in front of the woman, before turning to give a relieved look to Elise's parents. That's one less person to worry about. Leaving the Harpers to deal with their daughter, Brandy starts searching for a tea pot or kettle to brew a larger batch of tea in.
Thomas shakes his head, "Turning any form of profit is the furthest thing from my mind right now." he says pulling the cigarette out and tossing it by the ashtray. His hand moves to finally get to that coffee and he takes a slow sip, his eyes watch the reuniting of a child with her parents and he nods slowly. His hand sitting the coffee back down as he takes a seat, looking at Brandy. "Tea always helps." he says finally with a nod, before his eyes move back towards the window.
With a low contented sigh, Quincy turns away from the two, trying to keep himself from being recognized as he conveniently goes over to make some more coffee while cleaning his beard trying to make sure it doesn't tangle as it's prone to do. He doesn't seem to say another word, as he checks the pot.
"Thank you for keeping her safe," Mr. Harper tells everyone in the room. "Thank you, I —" there's a second where he stares at Quincy. "You look… familiar," he tells him. Elise is too busy crying on her mother's shoulder to hear that little exchange. Then Mr. Harper shakes his head. "I've got to find my brother and his children," he says. "Gertrude, take her home, calm her down. Maybe call that friend of hers, see if he can't help."
Mrs. Harper nods, and with her daughter safe in her arms she turns on her heel and disappears with a loud crack. Mr. Harper lifts his hat in gratitude once more to the people in the shop, and leaves through the front door. "THEO!" he can be heard bellowing. "LUCI! OLIVER!"
"Check the Leaky Cauldron!" Brandy calls after the man as he hurries out. It's a logical gathering point, after all. "If it's still standing," she mutters quietly, letting out a sigh.
Finding a kettle, she starts to fill it with hot water, sparing a glance towards Thomas. "How bad?" she asks with some trepidation. "How far did you go?"
Thomas takes a sip of his coffee, "North Verdic got hit too…" he says slowly, his tone grim. "And central Diagon…" he continues lowering his head, "I over heard an Auror and Mediawizard talking, Sweet Temptations was the target… they targeted the kids Brandy." he says slowly his finger finding the bar and tapping on it slowly as he looked up at Brandy, "So really bad…" he says, closing his eyes, "Heard rumors that the Eye of Truth was involved some how…" he says looking back outside through the window.
Thomas nods to the man who thanked him as he goes to leave, "You are welcome.." he says with a nod, "You might check St. Mungos' mediwizards have been moving people out and still are…" he says knowing that those words can't be very reassuring or easy to swallow, "Also up North, nurses are gathering up the lost children together to contact parents and family." he says slowly with a nod of his head.
"Sweet Temptations?" Brandy gasps, her hand shaking - and managing to spill some of the hot water on it. "Ah-" She hastily sets down the kettle and wipes her hand dry, shaking it. "That's- that's… Who could possibly…" She braces herself against the counter, her eyes going to Quincy, and then back to Thomas. "The Eye of Truth? And here I bring you…" She shuts her mouth. The strange woman at the counter doesn't look like she's about to go outing Quincy as a Muggle to anyone, but perhaps the less said the better. But has she put Thomas, Quincy and Sampson into danger?
Thomas presses his tongue against his cheek, "I don't know… but…" he says slowly shaking his head, "Things could have been a lot worse…" he says slowly, he says looking around the shop, "Not just for me, but for everyone… if they would have hit more shops." he says slowly, "I am going to close shop for a week…" he explains slowly to Brandy with a nod, "It will take time to get everything sorted out…" he says looking back at Brandy, "It will be okay…" he says trying to reassure her.
Once the family has left, Quincy finally turns back around taking a sip from his mug of coffee, muttering something to himself under his breath. He makes his way back over towards the counter sending a single hand through the hair of his beard. "This place will recover just fine, I'm sure,"
From the back room the noticeable sounds of movement can be heard, someone moving about rather heavy boxes, or maybe something else? Whoever it is there hasn't really been anyone heading back that way for a while. Though on the bright side they don't seem to be knocking anything over.
"I don't think many will come shopping in the near future, anyways," Brandy answers, her own eyes starting to mist up with tears. Attacking Sweet Temptations, during school shopping season? What monsters! "Why must people be so horrible?" she asks Thomas, without a trace of her usual cheer. "I'll never understand it."
Thomas runs his hand slowly through his mess of blonde hair, shaking his head. "Because people, not muggles not wizards, prove everyday…" he says slowly taking a soft sip of his coffee, "That neither side of this is ready for each other… we both have the same problems we just call them different things…" he says slowly with a nod and a deep sigh.
From the back room eventually out stumbles Sampson his hair more then a bit ruffled, his clothing looking to have been slept in. In general the boy looks like he got a good nights sleep on someones hardwood floor. He makes his way into the man room obviously in a better mood then he was when he was taken to Mungos with those broken limbs of his. One could almost say he looks happy.
Sampson appearing on the scene seems to sober Brandy up from the verge of a tear-ridden melt-down. She wipes at her eyes, pushing away from the counter to stand straighter. She picks back up the kettle, starting to fill it again with water. "Sampson, hello. We're going to need you to stay inside the shop, today."
Thomas looks up from his coffee at Sampson and then back to Brandy for a moment. "Aye." he simply says as thoughts continue to run through his head, before leaning in and saying something to Brandy and picking up one of the scattered cigarettes off the bar and lighting it up, taking a drag and exhaling the smoke, "But if you want, I had a shipment come in this morning, you can dig through it, be the first person on Diagon to have looked at a few of the new comics." he says trying to smile.
Sampson lets out a low groan as he stretches out his limbs still adjusting somewhat before saying rather quietly "Wait, did somefin' 'appen? I 'ave a few fngs I need ter get done" His voice sounds somewhat depressed as he moves over towards the window of the shop, peeking about at the scene outside.
"I know," Brandy agrees with Thomas softly, setting the kettle down and adding some tea leaves to steep. She looks at Sampson near the window, watching him study the scene outside. "Yeah, something happened," she confirms for the boy. "It looks like three - maybe even more shops were attacked today by some sort of spell that… caused some fires."
Thomas nods to Brandy as he takes a long hard drag off his cigarette, before finally saying something more. "It's not safe outside right now is all." he says with a nod, "People are on edge and things aren't pretty." he says slowly taking another sip of his coffee and letting out a deep sigh, as he listens to Brandy explain the situation, "Looks like they are targeting kids." he says bluntly.
"Why'd they go an' do somethin' like that, everyone was a kid at some point," Sampson asks hoisting himself up onto the bench beside the rather distracted by thought Quincy. "Still fnk I'm an' all quick fer 'em though," the boy tacks on to the end just above a whisper, while looking away from Thomas.
"I don't think we're ever likely to understand people like this, Sampson. Just be careful, and stay inside for now," Brandy urges him. With her pot of tea brewing, she claims a cigarette from one of those scattered on the counter, and lights it with the tip of her wand. It is a good time for a smoke.
And a drink. "Don't suppose you picked up any whiskey?"
Thomas gestures to under the bar, "You said it is what you like didn't you?" he says taking a long hard drag off his cigarette. "Not the best whiskey, but I don't think anyone will complain right now." he says nodding slowly trying to force out a smile, his hand moving and running through his hair.
"Oh, Thomas, you're the best," Brandy responds, flashing him one of her smiles. Apparently nothing can keep her down completely. She retrieves the bottle, opening it and pouring a healthy amount into her tea. "After this - I'll go on out there and see if anyone needs a bit of tea. There's bound to be plenty of lost souls out there today."
Thomas nods slowly, taking a sip of his coffee, "Going to have to send a friend of mine at to come put some wards up…" he says slowly looking at the door and window, "My charms aren't going to last through the night…" he says nodding with a sigh as he takes a drag off his cigarette, "If you need anything from the shop, welcome too it." he says nodding.
"Oh, believe me, I will," Brandy agrees, flashing another brief smile. She takes another sip of her spiked tea, feeling more herself already. By the bottom of her cup - and the end of her cigarette - she's ready to face the horrors outside. For a little bit, at least. She helps herself to a large tray, decking it out with tea, cups, and pastries. "That ought to do it."
Thomas nods and smiles, "Just let me know if you need anything." he says softly, "I need to get the shop prepped for the storm that is going to be coming…" he says looking around with a rather deep, "It's going to be too quiet in here for too long…" he says snuffing out his cigarette.
"Thee're wizards, can't yew just put up a spell awer somethin' what can keep da people wiv bad in'enshuns aaaht an' let da good guys in? Know what I mean?" Sampson says looking over at the three, while holding onto the stool he's taken an inkling to sitting upon.
"I'll do that, too!" Brandy agrees with Thomas. At Sampson's suggestion, she exchanges a look with Thomas - there'll be no hiding that this child is a Muggle-born - and looks back towards Sampson. "Not really, I'm afraid. Magic has its limitations. I'll be just outside passing these out," she adds, picking up her tray and heading towards the door. She's also going to have to take down that 'Elise is here' sign.
Thomas nods, "Sadly not that easy. I specialize in more of immediate and temporary magic." he says to Sampson with a smile, "While a few of my friends from my days at the Ministry specialize more in long term defensive magic." he explains, "The downside to the longer term magic, like runes is they tend to target a more broad range, so to speak." he says with a smile, "So that is why I will be closing shop and more then likely just be using the Floo in the back for travel, so I won't bother any of the runes or wards." he says nodding, "Basically my magic could be bypassed or overpowered easier with time, then my friends, his magic would require someone around his level as a Cursebreaker." he explains nodding.
"Oh," Sampson exclaims quietly, turning back so that he's facing the bar, and pulling out a small four page comic, from his pocket no bigger then the palm of his hand. He starts idly flipping through it looking over the small pretty pictures.
Brandy glances back at the pair, and the woman who still sat at the tea counter in what appeared to be a state of shock, sipping periodically at the tea. Poor thing - did she lose someone? Shaking her head, she steps outside, carrying the tray and offering it to anyone who looked rather shaken and in need of some reassurance.