McHaggis

For Queen and Country

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The Wolves of Red Lake (Completed)

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Robin Marshall

Location: The Café
Interacting With: Olivia Johnson (and Nosily Appraising the Other Customers)

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Though chronically unobservant at the best of times, it was hard not to notice the strange, albeit brief, interaction between an Old Guy –– someone who Robin hadn't ever encountered before during his time in Red Lake –– and Johnson. Did they know each other, then? While he made an attempt at puzzling it out, Olivia invited him with a tempting offer of paying for lunch.

Robin did, in fact, follow, if only because one of the tenets he grew up with was 'never decline free food'. He'd pick up the tab next time, or tip a little more when he next bought a coffee when Olivia was working, but once an impoverished waif always an impoverished waif. "As long as you let me return the favour at some point, then," he ended up saying. "Got a 'real' job again – unfortunately – at the locksmith's, even if it's only a few days a week, so I can afford it once business picks up."

The small-town life didn't seem so bad in moments like these.

He slunk into the cafe behind Olivia. The Old Guy had entered before them and was sitting with another girl, while a woman that he didn't recognise –– one of the out-of-towners here about the case, maybe? –– sat alone. Frankly, if she was a cop, Robin didn't trust that his fight or flight instinct wouldn't kick in, even if he hadn't done anything illegal in years. He shot the stranger a nervous smile. Please don't be the law, please don't be the law, please don't be the law.

As he saw Olivia pull up a stool next to the girl working today, Findley (not Heather, this time; he wondered where she was), Robin leaned against the counter, awaiting service to get his usual coffee with five or more sugar packets to mix in. He was waiting far enough away to be unable to hear whatever secret gossip Olivia was trading, even with his big ears and nosy nature, though he assumed it to be 'girl stuff'. Robin looked away for privacy's sake, even if he could hardly stop himself from trying to listen in.

For Queen and Country

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For Queen and Country

.

Morsmordre

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For Queen and Country

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For Queen and Country

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For Queen and Country

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For Queen and Country

.

For Queen and Country

.