Watcher's Story

Even in his dreams he was working on something. There was this large clock in the middle of town that needed "fixing". So they hired he best man for the job. Watcher. He was doing his normal thing. Replacing a gear here and there, adding an explosive over there as well. He took a look at his hands and realized that the stains are not coming out. He started to scratch at the palms of his hands but to no use the stains remained. He let out a sigh as he fixed his tie and packed up his tools for the trade. He walked down the stairs that lead up to the clock. He packed enough explosives to level this tower and the person who was to be in it. After he got out of the clock tower he made his way to a cafe that was in plain view of the tower. He ordered a coffee and sat to watch his little experiment take action. From the distance he was at he could see the man enter the building. By Watchers calculation the man should reach the top of the tower in a few minutes; work for about 3 and then the explosives would go off. In about 5 minutes he took a look at his watch and started to count down. "Five.... Four..... Three...... Two.."

Around eight alarm clocks went off at once signaling him that it was time to wake up. Watcher sat up and started to turn off the alarm clocks. "Just when I was getting to the good part." He said as he threw the blanket off of him. His apartment wasn't the best but it was big enough for him to do his work. He looked down and realized that he wasn't wearing any pants. He blinked a few times and walked over to his closet. He took out his normal attire for the day. A plain black suit. One of the most generic things that you could find in this city. He was honestly getting ready for a part time job that he held just to look normal. His boss was someone he did a job for, so when he asked if he could get a job at the office building the guy said sure. All watcher really did was repair the computers. He was good with technology he could repair just about anything. He was smiling as he put his clothing on. Once the pants and the shirt was on he walked over to the window hoping for a nice and sunny day.

He was a little let down to see that the day was in fact just a downpour. He let out a sigh and grabbed his raincoat and an umbrella. He walked over to his fridge and opened it up to grab an apple for his breakfast. He took a bite and left the apartment. His walk consisted of him moving past all of these little shops that he never knew what they did or for that fact even sold. Some of the shops seemed a little interesting to him but he never went in. He didn't like being late even to a job that was only a real cover for what he did. He had his umbrella straight against the rain and his coat was long enough to at least protect his pants for the onslaught of the rain. He passed a shop what was interesting to say the least. He stopped outside of it to look in. All Watcher could see was this plump old lady sitting there behind the counter.

It was fair to say that Watcher was curious about this shop. He wasn't sure why but this place seemed really interesting. Watcher decided to stop and go into this little shop. He stepped in the shop and shook off his umbrella outside and tried to wipe most of that rain water off of him. The old lady had smiled at him as he looked up at her. He looked around the shop and wasn't really sure what to say. He was still wondering what services were provided here. He looked at the older women. "So what is it that you do here anyway?" Watcher asked

"So what is it that you do here anyway?"

Teller picked up his head from his book at the sound of the new voice. It was a young man, probably twenties, and the least typical sounding patron for Paulette's. He pulled his legs from the stool and sat up straight. What was going on? The usual patrons were typically more elderly or gypsies. Teller stood, creeping over silently to the shimmering beaded curtain, leaning in as close as possible to try and see through the cracks in the beads, squinting to try and make out any features. New people were bad, especially for someone hiding from an organization like ZERO. He chewed his lip, unsure. It was hit or miss with another assassin. Some could remember any face; whether it be from an assassination list, walking around the headquarters, or even from back in the academy. Others assassins could walk past another and not even realize it. They forgot faces almost instantly, because they dealt with so many different people that they just didn't care. Teller really couldn't be sure who this guy was (especially at this distance, as even with his glasses, his eyesight was poor) and even if he could be ZERO, there was no telling if he would recognize Teller. Even still, this guy was no gypsy. He could only hope the guy would leave as soon as possible.

He watched Paulette give her usual, thin-lipped smile, shifting her weight to sit up straighter in case she needed to get up. "Well, i suppose that depends on what you're looking for." She gave a quick hand gesture to her dimly lit store. "We've got antiques and little odds and ends... Just got a man selling us some things made from bone; we buy things too, sort of like a pawn shop." She smiled again, resting a slightly shaky hand down onto the counter to support herself. She had to be at least 80. "If you want anything that's taxidermied, you'll have to go upstairs, though. My worker doesn't like them."

She leaned forward, tapping a knuckle on the "FORTUNE TELLER" sign that sat on the counter. "Speaking of Ares, he's our fortune teller that works out of the back room. He does tarot cards and palms. He might do tea leaves and some other things, but i haven't asked him."

Paulette jabbed a finger over at the back room and Teller instantly shied his face away from the curtain of beads, despite knowing full well he couldn't be seen from the other side (though he would have been wrong to assume that they couldn't see his silhouette, because they could). After a second or two, he pushed his face back in closer to the curtain to strain into seeing again.

Paulette opened her mouth, ready to start again on another topic of her little store, before another figure wandered through the door front, bringing a tinge of blood through into the air. Paulette didn't notice the smell of blood at first, but Teller recognized it at once. Paulette snapped her jaw shut and twisted to take a look at the opening door, and the young girl coming inside.

"Do you have a band-aid or something similar." The girl's timid question hung in the air a second and Paulette's frail body snapped into action.

She slid off her stool and dragged it around to the other side of the counter nearest the girl. "My dear god!" She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I think you might need a little more than a band-aid!" She turned a few times, trying to remember if she had a first-aid kit down on the first floor. "You sit down, alright, I'll take care of you in just a moment." She twisted only one more time before looking toward the back room. "Ares! Ares, don't think i don't see you spyin'. You go get the first aid kit for me and bring it over here!"

Teller's eyes widened as he slipped into a short moment of being frozen, until he forced himself to move, only to let his head thud somewhat hard against the door frame. He made a small note to himself about how that hurt and started moving towards the door in the far back of the room, opening it up and heading upstairs with a bit more speed than the first motion. It was a struggle to find anything in Paulette's apartment up above. It was even more crowded than the store with weird stuff and oddities. Not to mention the taxidermied animals. Its not like he was against them or anything. The animals just creeped him out, majorly. It was like a stuffed animal gone wrong, and he'd get into it about stuffed animals later, but that was another story entirely. He shoved a few dusty boxed off their perches until he located the small white, tin box with the red cross on it; first aid. The wound didn't smell that bad (he couldn't see it at the distance), and he hardly thought of it needing this kind of care, but Paulette was the kind of old woman you didn't argue with. You just let her go that little bit overboard because she just had too big a heart for her body, and she'd probably tell you off if you tried to argue with her anyway. He dusted it off, checked the contents quickly, and dashed back down the stairs, closing the wooden door behind him and pausing again at the beaded curtain.

When he finally came out into the store front, his face was ducked, his shoulders were hunched, his glasses were pushed up the bridge of his nose as far as they could go, and he tried as hard as he could to remain at an angle that kept his features more difficult to identify. Even as he slid the kit onto the counter, ducking between the people, he moved his free hand up to push his glasses up further to be sure he was even more hidden. Now there were two non-regulars in the store. He certainly didn't trust either of them right about now, and probably wouldn't trust them ever, but that was fine. Not trusting people was part of his life style. Teller quickly twisted back around, slinking back towards the back room as fast as he possibly could.

"Wait, wait," Paulette interrupted, Opening up the kit. "Ares, dontchu move a muscle."

Teller froze, not turning around, but not progressing to the door. He chewed his lip, cursing under his breath.

"You stay right up here and help me out with these two, understand? Better you be up here where you're useful than back there readin'." She started rummaging through the kit for what she needed.

Teller twisted around, coming back to the counter and leaning against the side of it. He finally faced the two others, but his head remained ducked. He studied the two as best he could, giving them shy and shifty looks from beneath the thick top of his glasses. He looked so awkward and like nothing special. It was amazing how he could go from this to seducing a guy or a girl during the night. Messy, course hair and thick, geeky glasses. Thin frame and thick lips. Sure, those interesting features could be played upon to be awkwardly adorable, but it wasn't a big number of people who were into that kind of look. It almost perhaps suggested that there was some intoxication involved? No, he was just good at adapting to what the situation called for. Speaking of which, teller slid the bone-hilted letter opener from the counter, keeping his motion light and his eyes on everyone else, into his jacket sleeve. The motion was impossible to notice. But in case it was necessary, it would at the very least help him out. Not like he didn't still have the shard of mirror tucked in his boot, but that was a little conspicuous.

He took a deep breath and looked off to the side, glancing back periodically. He addressed the boy in the room, adding the slightest bit of annoyance and aggression in his voice, possibly just to get him out so as to only have one of the two "problems" left in Paulette's store. "Is there anything specific you needed?"

A few things had happened after he had entered the store. He looked around trying to understand what was sold here. The store he found interesting and was having a bit of fun and he was looking for something unique and well clockwork. The older women started to talk to him.

The old lady gave a thin-lipped smile, and shifted her weight to sit up straighter "Well, i suppose that depends on what you're looking for." She gave a quick hand gesture to her store. "We've got antiques and little odds and ends... Just got a man selling us some things made from bone; we buy things too, sort of like a pawn shop." She smiled again, resting a slightly shaky hand down to support herself. "If you want anything that's taxidermied, you'll have to go upstairs, though. My worker doesn't like them."

She leaned forward, tapped the counter on the "FORTUNE TELLER" sign that was on it. "Speaking of Ares, he's our fortune teller that works out of the back room. He does tarot cards and palms. He might do tea leaves and some other things, but i haven't asked him."

Watcher raised an eyebrow at that name it seemed familiar to him but distant. He shook it off as it was nothing. After a moment or two a girl had walked into the store and smelled a little of blood. The older women had started to tend to the girl. She had said to someone that she had needed help and after a few seconds a man had walked out of the back holding a first-aid kit. The man looked none threatening but watcher knew better than to judge someone on looks. I mean after all look at him. He wasn't exactly the model of what an assassin should look like.

The man took a deep breath and looked off to the side, glancing back periodically. After a few second the boy talked adding a bit of annoyance and aggression in his voice"Is there anything specific you needed?"

Watcher smiled at him and tilted his head. "Yea I think i'll take this." He said as he held out a very old clock. Watcher almost had this obsession with old clocks and how they worked. He smiled as he placed the clock on the counter and looked at the man that was standing behind it.

"Yea I think i'll take this." They young man said, holding out a clock.

Teller sighed, taking the watch from the other boy and turning it in his hands a few times, searching for the small white tag that would indicate the price Paulette had set for the item. The drawn-in-black-ink number was difficult to see with a combination of an out-of-date prescription and just plain terrible eyesight, but he was feeling too stubborn to bring the item closer to his face to discern it perfectly. To say the very least, he was about to embarrass himself, but was in too bad of a mood to care.

"L9?" He muttered, squinting. "What the f*ck is L9?"

"You're holding it upside-down again, Ares," Paulette responded, just now finishing up the job and putting away her things as the girl in the room began a little bit of browsing. "You need to see an eye doctor."

"Oh..." Teller chewed his lower lip a second as he turned the price tag around to read it correctly. "Right, that's going to be 67.... That makes a lot more sense." His voice remained cold when he spoke to the other boy, courteous behavior was completely unnecessary in his opinion. This wasn't his job, and he still didn't trust these two new people. Perhaps if he was the worst employee ever, they would go away and decide that being regulars was a stupid idea. It was entirely possible. He kept his eyes off the other people in the room as he typed in the price in the cash register. At least that part was easy, he knew where the numbers were on that crappy old machine, and didn't need to bother with straining to see what he was typing in.

Once the number was punched in and ready for payment, he made eye contact again, his facial expression seeming bored, though his eyes seemed piercing and almost agitated. Perhaps even cautious. "So are you going to want a bag or something?"

He glanced over at the other girl, browsing and taking some interest in a pearl necklace that sat over with some of the other pieces of jewelry. She was setting the jewelry on her neck by the time Teller's gaze returned the the boy's face. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, hardly paying attention to Paulette trying to be a good saleswoman and shuffling about.

"How much are these?" The girl was asking, smiling politely.

"Those are fifty," Paulette answered, lifting the stool and putting it back behind the front counter where it usually sat. "They look lovely on you, dear."

The mood was neutral, normal, plain. Until something sour hit the air and a heaving sound came through the dusty silence. The girl was throwing up. Paulette rushed over to her to hold back her hair, now simply finding more reasons that the girl was far too unwell.

"Oh dear," she said softly, "perhaps we should get you to a doctor..."

Teller had let the watch down on the counter, staring with wide eyes and parted lips, stuck in his frozen sort of way. Unpredictable actions always bothered him to some extent. There had simply been no context to imply that she would suddenly lose her lunch, or, breakfast, and all of a sudden that sour foul smell was all over the room and she was bent over the trash can. She asked for a sink quickly, and Paulette assisted her to the bathroom, letting her alone while the sound of the faucet went on. Teller's frozen gaze followed them. Paulette made her way half back over to the front, not wanting to venture to far in case the girl needed help.

"Ares, I think i'll close up to make sure this girl gets some help. If you want to escort her home or to a doctor-"

Teller unfroze, expression breaking into the kind a child would give if asked to do something like chores or having a playdate with someone they hated. "Why should i? Its not my problem."

Paulette's gaze narrowed. "That personality deficiency of yours really bothers me sometimes. You're doing it, no arguments."

"Like hell i am!" He scoffed, brows raised, but Paulette's forceful expression bored into him. He let out a sigh and rolled his eyes, raising his hands in an exaggerated 'i give up' sort of way. "Whatever! But only if drastically necessary....."

He shook his head, finally looking back at the other boy, but looking down in the smallest bit of embarrassment about how many lags and fumbles he'd had directly in a row. Not to mention all the things Paulette kept pointing out. "Sorry about that," He tucked some of his course hair behind one ear before looking back at him to finally accept payment. Well, maybe this terrible experience would deter these customers from coming back...?

Watcher let out a sigh and then slapped 100 on the counter and took the clock out of the room. He left the place not wanting to get more involved. He stopped at the door. "Take care of her and be careful around the bus station today." He was not wanting these people to be hurt. "Today just seems like a bad day." He had bought that clock for a job that he has. He undid his umbrella and started his walk to home. The rain was not coming down as hard anymore but he loved his job and he needed to build the explosives this clock was perfect for what he needed. He smiled as the rain came down. That boy in the shop was odd but he knew he was wanting to go back and buy some more clocks at that little shop and keep getting his new items there.