#louis shackwell

[foundfamilyhq]

[samcybercat]

I knew I wasn’t gonna have time to draw anything new for the Black Raven Week @matchamabs is holding, but then I saw MJ post their fic from the last Black Raven week and was like “Hey, maybe I already have art that fits the themes!” So here I am belated adding some love for the Black Ravens with old art. Even if I don’t make new stuff for them now, I’ll always love my kids Day 1 - Black Raven

[teenytinyapprentice]

Black Raven week: Day 4 - Family

“A man who’s life has been consumed by the forces of the black market, Shackwell is Louis’s father.” I can’t even begin to imagine the very complicated feelings Louis must have about his father pouring their family’s wealth into the market he helps to run...

[pocketsizepunk]

(ID in alt)

black raven week day 4 - family

@matchamabs

tfw you're about to run a black market auction and you spot your dad in the audience :/ poor louis is having a crisis. but don't worry, i'm sure this won't be a regular thing... right?

[matchamabs]

BIG FUCKING SIGH ok look ive been sat on this for like. a looong while now so i consolidated all my shitty ideas into some headcanon pages. im bad at sharing stuff so now its ur problem. tbh some of these are a mix of canon and headcanon so it all kinda makes sense somehow. i would looooove to hear hcs from other people tho just chuck em at me. ill eat them.

a lot of these r referential to other things so ill put my thoughts in a read more,,, ur walc. tis a good read.

- for people unaware, corvus is crow’s name in the spanish translation, but i think it fits better as a name. who tf just names their kid straight up crow.

- ofc u recognise mama, my beloved

- crow and pipper look so much fucking alike i refuse to believe they aren’t related, but i was unsure if i was gonna make her like a younger sister. for now they’re cousins.

- i swear to god if i mixed up the maltese and polish flag for marilyn im gonna eat my desk no i will not factcheck we die like men

- scraps mentions having a mother, and since he also mentions wanting to take care of her, u kind of have to figure there’s no dad. i made her kind of weedy to suit it

- another mix of localisations, with tweeds and gus being the US and UK names respectively, so i thought why not mix them. actually makes for a good name right??

- we all know about nabbys runaway dad so it goes without saying there’s a single mama there

- also another US & UK crossover. ill b honest, i had a weird dream regarding this where it said roddy was his real name? but since nabby kinda implies the act of ‘to nab something’ it makes a good nickname for a pickpocket

- dont ask me why he’s scouse i can just feel it in my soul okay

- also canon has a dad which he mentions worked at the factory

- i was gonna make badger have a real normal name but like. i know someone mutually who’s real name is actually just badger which i find way funnier lol

- ofc we all know shackwell is louis’ dad, and that he’s canon the oldest too

- gave him a dead mum :(( felt that in my soul too. buuut shackwell mentions having a wife so. gotta slot that in somewhere u know.

- he fuckin looks welsh anol

- okay it took me fucking a whole year to realise wren is like. a pun on wrench to go with socket, but it’s 10 times funnier if her name is actually wrench and she hates it

- i actually made their last name nutten bc the US localisation has them saying ‘nuttin’ quite a lot and it weirdly fits. 

- socket mentions having a dog in the game, and his japanese name is pochi, which is also like the JP equivalent of ‘fido’ so thats a happy coincidence

- i dont know if its canon that wrens older? i feel like that’s mentioned somewhere. if not, it still works for the dynamic

the more u know. anyway. if u made it this far down the post thank u. here’s a hint coin for ur time.

[laytonnpcbracket]

Welcome to the Layton NPC Showdown!

This is a bracket to determine which of the many memorable NPCs from across the Professor Layton games are the greatest.

GAMES INCLUDED: Every game except LBMR. Eternal Diva characters are also not included here.

WHAT COUNTS AS AN NPC?: Anyone who doesn't have a puzzle animation. Characters excluded are Layton, Luke, Flora, Clive, Emmy, Randall, Aurora, Des, Espella, Phoenix, Maya, Katrielle, Ernest, Sherl, Hastings, and Emiliana.

WILL THERE BE NOMINATIONS?: Nope! Every NPC will be included.

WHAT ABOUT THE LAYTONMOBILE/MOLENTARY EXPRESS?: No vehicles. Not characters.

WHAT ABOUT THE PUZZLE LADS/LASSES?: I only plan on including characters that we can speak to in-game, so no Puzzle Lads or Lasses. Sorry to the people who like them 😔

WHICH CHARACTERS ARE INCLUDED, THEN?: Anyone who isn't an exception listed above that is in the profiles of the game! A full list is enclosed below.

WHEN WILL THE TOURNAMENT START?: More information forthcoming on that! I have to seed the bracket first :)

WHY IS NAIYA YOUR ICON?: In my opinion, she's one of the more underrated NPCs of the series. I'll probably cycle through some of the ones I have available to me right now.

WHAT CRITERIA SHOULD I VOTE ON?: Whatever makes you happy :)

ARE ALTER EGOS SEPERATE CHARACTERS?: No. For instance, Ratman is not included because his secret identity is in the tournament.

US OR UK NAMES?: I will try to make available as many names for the NPCs as possible! Which includes their Japanese names and as many names in the localizations as I am able to obtain from the wiki and my own sources. I'll probably reliably have the English (both versions where applicable), Japanese, and French names for every character when I do the bracket rounds. The list below however is entirely in English.

And now for a list of the entries! I didn't check all of these for inconsistencies, but I attempted to ascertain that I used the US versions. Some of them might be UK versions though because that's the version of the game I have (specifically Diabolical Box NPCs and Last Specter NPCs -- I know some of their US names but not all).

Franco

Stachenscarfen

Ingrid

Percy

Marco

Ramon

Matthew

Lady Dahlia Reinhold

Gordon Reinhold

Simon Reinhold

Claudia

Beatrice

Deke

Agnes

Pauly

Crouton

Flick

Rodney

Chelmey

Lucy

Zappone

Gerard

Jarvis

Adrea

Pavel

Crumm

Prosciutto

Archibald

Sylvain

Martha

Giuseppe

Augustus Reinhold

Granny Riddleton

Don Paolo

Bruno

Andrew Schrader

Anton Herzen

Katia Anderson

Sophia

Mr. Anderson

Beluga

Sammy Thunder

Macaroon

Chester

Babette

Tom

Ilyana

Geoff

Garland

Nigel

Jacques

Barton

Grousley

Steve

Capone

Mitzi

Lili

Sally

Marjorie

Conrad

Karla

Romie

Dorothea

Clabber

Oscar

Nick

Gabe

Balsa

Wurtzer

Lopez

Laurel

Parcelle

Lulu

Albert

Madeline

Remy

Angus

Kostya

Dylan

Joseph

Rory

Lila

Damon

Felix

Niles

Duke

Hopper

Olson

Derby

Dawson

Joanie

Krantz

Grinko

Marina

Opal

Ray

Gregorio

Narice

Gertie

Hamster

Precious

Winston

Claire

Dimitri Allen

Bill Hawks

Spring

Cogg

Dean Delmona

Shipley

Puzzlette

Beasley

Parrot

Subject 3

Bostro

Family Goon

Lockjaw

Splinters

Marzano

Layman

Fisheye

Silky

Shmelmey

Shmarton

Ward

Smith

Florence

Vito

Art

Niklaus

Anita

Alfie

Hazel (UF)

Adeline

Max

Becky

Margaret

Pallard

Dupree

Natalia

Harold

Horace

Hardy

Cuthbert

Segal

Catanova

Rosetta

Colby

Rudolph

Misha

Dylan

Viv

Pepper

Checker

Avogadro

Maya (UF)

Myrtle

Belle

Graham

Slate

Ernest (UF)

Berta

Minnie

Paige

Raleigh

Beacon

Mark

Rosa

Grosky

Keats

Clark Triton

Brenda Triton

Arianna Barde

Tony Barde

Doland Noble

Levin Jakes

Loosha

Toppy

Crow

Marilyn

Roddy

Scraps

Tweeds

Wren

Socket

Louis

Badger

Aldus

Charlie

Jasmine

Bucky

Fische

Beth

Mido

Clarence

Joe

Molly

Marion

Browne

Hugo

Dominica

Paddy

Brock

Aunt Taffy

Shackwell

Greppe

Goosey

Mimi

Hans Jakes

Maggie

Yamada

Sean

Olga

Finch

Sebastian

Cornelius

Chappy

Hannah

Mick

Colby

Monica

Thomas

Nate

Ewan

Chief Engineer

Naiya

Chippe

Bram

Ghent

Nordic

Gilbert

Roland Layton

Lucille Layton

Henry Ledore

Angela Ledore

Alphonse Dalston

Leonard Bloom

Sheffield

Billson

Mrs Ascot

Pascal

Guy

Lapushka

Gustav

Gonzales

Drake

Tyrone

Sterling

Mordy

Collette

Maurice

Juggles

Puck

Yukkles

Murphy

Cookie

Tanya

Firth

Madelaine

Stumble

Artie

Michelle

Nils

Frankie

Conner

Humbert

Policeman (MM)

Yuming

Esther

Lionel

Doug

Mr. Collins

Leon Bronev

Raymond

Prima

Harald

Donna

Mascha

Georg

Mackintosh

Solveig

Erik

Hazel (AL)

Igor

Sonya

Moos

Larisa

Karpin

Boris

Dariya

Pavlova

Carmichael

Amelie Chelmey

Policeman (AL)

Tommy

Morel

Chestnut

Amanita

Blewitt

Chanterelle

Button

Lepidella

Bud

Javier

Benny

Miranda

Martine

Barbara

Ruby

Scarlett

Flint

Old Red

Jesse

Derringer

Julien

Romilda

Sheppard

Piet

Felicia

Rik

Beatrix

Umid

Banu

Dana

Temir

Mehri

Nassir

Adler

Robin

Macaw

Plover

Grouse

Gannet

Swift

Carmine Accidenti

Olivia Aldente

Allan

Bardly

Zacharias Barnham

Newton Belduke

Birdly

Boistrum

Cecil

Cinderellia

Constantine

Cracker

Cutter

Darklaw

Dewey

Dzibilchaltunchunchucmil

Patty Eclaire

Eve (cat)

Flynch

Foxy

Jean Greyerl

Hoot

Judge

Kira

Knight Captain

Knightle

Lottalance

Lyewood

Lettie Mailer

Balmung

Mary

Muffet

Muggs

Ridelle Mystere

Nozey

Petal

Petter

Ms Primstone

Emeer Punchenbaug

Robbs

Old Rootie

Rouge

Servius

Shakey

Johnny Smiles

Snowy

Storyteller

Tuggit

Price

Wordsmith

Pipper Lowonida

Phineas Barnone

Madame Doublée

Liza Wight

Grant Sloans

Cesar Chance

Mustafa Fulhold

Hans Lipski

Aleks Lipski

Maverick D. Rector

Seymore Fraymes

The Major

Eddie Torre

Hayes

Maid

Wooooster

Bianca Teller

Security Guard

Shadee

Taboras Lloyd

Douglas Dert

Ratboy

Mo Heecan

Mrs Slow the Tailor

Midas Pullman

Declan Swabber

Abel Seamon

Felicity Hastings

Gene Ohm

Billy Kidd

Royall Britannias

Clover Pryce

PC Beate

DC Booker

Waiter

Séan Butchin

Bo Bells

Hessie Tate

Benjy

Bess

Keane Fisher

Bob Bracket

Stripey

Patch

Cat

Yapper

Gudrun Weldon

[samcybercat]

Day 8 - Free Day Aaand here’s the rest of my old Black Raven art that I still like but doesn’t fit the other days. Thanks so much to @matchamabs for organising this week and giving me a chance to remember why I love these tiny merchants so much!

[samcybercat]

Day 5 - Work Snapshots of all the Black Ravens working around the market (some of them doing Black Raven stuff, some of them doing general work - like Roddy hanging the washing and the siblings walking their dog). Then we got the trio of Louis, Gus & Marilyn doing some carol-singing to make money. give marilyn ur money

[matchamabs]

look if im gonna have autism i might as well go balls to the wall with my fixations yeah? tho this time i was planning this for a while so,,, im not that unhinged

hello its black raven week time,,,, in like a month

i would push it further into the year but wow looks like mabs got saddled with some rlly shit legal duties!!! so :(( here we are. its time. im done makin the art and fics, this time i wanna see U GUYS do it!! i know there’s been a lot of weeks recently so this is just lax. u can make art in advance or just do one day idc just have fun with it

and as muuuch as i thought abt making a whole new blog for this i decided bleh not worth it + i already have a follower count so instead of doin THAT im just gonna b reblogging LOTS of ur stuff and also with the tag blackravenweek2023 so like shove that info into ur brain as hard as u can

if u cannot read the picture it isssss february 21st to 28th i just noticed i wrote,,,, 21th,,,,, twenty firth,,,

i have day details below the read more!!! look at them. its my gift of clarification 2 u. also obvs if anyone has annnny questions u can summon me in any manner n ill b there. 

no real rules to this one other than dont be a perv. and also don’t be a coward and draw tweeds thin cmon now. also alllll this content DOES include arianna and tony so like. no need to leave them out! let them join the party! 

Day 1 - Black Raven

The creature himself. The frontman n costume of the group! What a good design he is. Go hamwild with him!

Day 2 - Sweets 

or candy if u live over the water. its basically child jet fuel. the one thing that glues them all together!! they all love sweets so ur tasked with drawing them in whichever capacity u like (personally i love chewing nuts but. google doesnt agree with that as a search term apparently......)

Day 3 - Girls

lets be honest. wren and marilyn are the biggest backbone holdin that group together so show em some love! 

Day 4 - Family

do they have families? or are they each others families? maybe its just a dog. whatever u reckon is what we wanna see. (did u know shackwell is louis’ dad. mental.)

Day 5 - Work

they’re kids but they work hard as balls! do u ever wonder just what they get up to behind the scenes to keep the market running? ill bet its super mundane. 

Day 6 - The Spectre

its where we got to see them the most! the events during the spectre, what they got up to before the spectre, maybe just lying in bed bein scared as shit! i mean did u know marilyns house got destroyed by that thing? :(( rip house

Day 7 - Favourite

who is ur favourite member??? i wanna know! i wanna knowww!! 

Day 8 - have fun :) love mabs 

[laytonnpcbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 45 SIDE A

About the NPCs:

Mustafa Fullhold is one of London's Seven Dragons. He runs several luxury cruise lines.

Otherwise known as: ヘンリー・エイザーランド (Japanese); Omar O'Nassers (German); Joaquim Naveiro (Spanish); Driss Lamar (French); Jan Frusall (Italian); Mr. Nautilus (Dutch)

Shackwell is Louis's father and a frequenter of the Black Ravens' auctions.

Otherwise known as: シャクレール (Japanese); Moley (Spanish)

[samcybercat]

Title: Grasping Liquid – Part Thirty-Four Rating: PG-13 Genre: Angst Series: Professor Layton Shipping(s): Not-so-one-sided Badger/Crow Character(s): Badger, Louis, Crow, Socket Summary: When Badger heads to Liverpool to see Louis he ends up having more worries created than put to rest. And on top of that it doesn't look as if his travels are going to end here either. Notes: Now that we've got to Louis again I think this is a good enough time to share a bit of useless trivia about something from an early draft of this fic that ended up being scrapped. Initially, when I'd planned for Louis to move to Liverpool, Roddy was eventually going to join him there. But then Roddy father theory came about and I thought that was much more interesting, so I changed my plans to instead have Roddy move to London to be reunited with Hardy. All things considered, I think this worked out for the best. Not just for Roddy and the London Black Ravens (who very much need him there!), but also because it opened up some new plans for Louis, that are hinted at in this chapter.

Crow had written a letter back to Louis about Badger's plans to visit him, but Badger didn't wait for the reply to start getting ready to go. Knowing Louis, it could be months before their friend remembered to write back and Badger didn't want to wait that long. So he packed and packed again, until he'd repacked so many times that he decided anything he didn't remember wasn't worth taking.  He should only be gone for a few days anyway.

Then one morning he decided it was time to head off. Crow waited for him by the door, shifting about awkwardly.

“I've called ahead, so 'e knows ya comin' today,” Crow informed, “Wouldn't want ya to get off at Livahpool an' not 'ave someone there to greet ya. If 'e's not at the station then I'll clip 'im 'around the ears when I next see 'im.”

Badger laughed, “There's nowt to worreh about, Crowlo. I'm sure that I'll find 'im.”

“Right. Guess I'm just fussin'...” mumbled Crow, “Are ya sure ya don't want me to walk ya to the station? Those workahs that Dalston's sendin' probably won't be 'ere until this aftahnoon, so I've got time.”

“No, I've gotteh do this on me own. I know it sounds weird, but I've decided,” Badger firmly replied.

“It doesn't sound weird at all. I kinda get where ya comin' from,” admitted Crow, “Though it doesn't stop me from worryin' all the same.”

“Now yer know 'ow I usually feel,” Badger joked, cruelly. But then he softened and added, “It's ganna be ah'reet. I'll get there no problem and soon yer'll 'ave so much work t' do around 'ere that yer won't even think of me.”

“I'll always think o' ya,” insisted Crow. This made Badger feel wibbly inside, but before he could say anything embarrassing, Crow went on; “So... this is goodbye for now then?”

“Just fer now. I'll be back before yer know it,” Badger promised.

With that, Crow reached forward and gave him a hug. It was an odd sensation. The last time that Crow had hugged Badger was when he'd broken down back in London. Circumstances had been very different then though and this hug felt much nicer. Badger carefully put his arms around Crow as well and the two of them stayed there like that for a bit longer than they maybe should have done before Crow pulled away.

“...See ya soon, Badge',” he whispered.

“Yeah... yer will,” concluded Badger.

He gave Crow one final nod before setting out. In his usual Badger fashion he didn't even make it all the way down the road before he turned to look back. Crow was still watching him, so Badger just waved at him once more then hurried on before he could change his mind.

The station was moderately busy, but not particularly overwhelming. Definitely not compared to how busy the stations in London had been. It didn't take Badger long to bumble his way through buying a ticket and being directed onto the right train. Perhaps he could have tried his luck with sneaking on without a ticket, like Crow would normally have done, but he both didn't feel particularly lucky today and didn't need anything else to test his nerves. A safe journey to Liverpool without the risk of being chucked off somewhere was exactly what Badger wanted.

And it turned out he got just that. It was a long journey and without anyone to talk to a very boring one. Part of Badger finally wished that he'd learned how to read, just so he had something to do to pass the time. Maybe when he got back home and everything was a bit more settled he could ask Crow about teaching him.

But eventually the train pulled into the station at Liverpool. The announcement of their arrival jolted Badger out of his daydreams and he hurried to grab his bags and get off before the train pulled away to its next destination.

As he stood on the platform, suddenly the panic that he'd done such a good job keeping away came back to settle in his stomach. Sure, he'd said to Crow that he'd be all right, even if Louis wasn't there, but now that he was here Badger realised that he was alone in a city he'd never been to with little idea of where Louis even lived. If he got lost then he had no clue what he'd do!

He bumbled off across the platform, trying to formulate a plan in his head. If he couldn't find Louis here in a few minutes then he could look around a bit outside, maybe ask someone if they'd seen anyone like him. Louis was a pretty unique-looking guy, after all. And if nothing came of it in about an hour then he'd find a payphone to call Crow and either get Crow to call Louis or arrange a trip back home.

Just as he was starting to settle himself into knowing what he was going to do, he noticed a large mess of black hair bobbing above most of the crowd.

“...Louis?”

“Badger! There you are, mate!”

The two of them rushed to meet each other. They were both taller than many of the people they were passing, so it didn't take much to convince the crowd to give them some space. And they must have looked like quite a pair. Louis was always the only Black Raven who could match Badger's height, but in contrast to how slim Badger had become over the years, Louis had panned out nicely. Back in Misthallery he used to joke that all the vegetables kept him in good shape, but a guilty part of Badger didn't think that Louis looks that great right now. It wasn't that he physically looked all that different to how Badger remembered him being, but something about him seemed a bit more... haggard? Exhausted? Badger wasn't good with words. He could see the deep bags beneath Louis's red-rimmed eyes and his shirt wasn't doing anything to hide all of the stains across it.

“Yer... yer ah'reet?” Badger asked, before he could stop himself.

Louis gave him a confused stare, clearly not understanding what he was getting at, then replied, “Yeah, doing fine. I was a bit surprised to hear that you were coming but not Crow, like. The Badger I remembered would deffo be too scared to head off on his own.”

“I've changed a lot, Lozza,” Badger proudly proclaimed, “Let's get back t' yer place so I can fill yer in on everything.”

“Ah. We're not going to my place,” mumbled Louis.

“What? 'ow come?” questioned Badger.

“Just 'cause my house is a bit of a tip,” Louis said, “Besides, we'd have to squeeze in with Mam and Dad, which wouldn't be a lotta fun, eh? So I've booked us into a hotel for the night. That'll be much better, yeah?”

“I guess...” murmured Badger. Though he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this situation than Louis was letting on.

But for the moment, he let Louis lead them to where they'd be staying. As they walked through the city streets, Louis pointed out different places and talked animately about what they were like. At more than one venue Louis would say that they had to go there before Badger left, though secretly Badger wasn't too keen on the idea of clubbing. He liked Louis, but the two of them did have very different ideas about how to have a good time. All the same, seeing Louis this eager about Liverpool put some of his worries to rest. If nothing else, at least he could say that Louis had settled back into his old neck of the woods without much trouble.

The hotel they were staying at turned out to be quite nice as well. It wasn't too posh, but also a step up from what Badger was expecting. The only downside was that it seemed to be one of those newer places where all the rooms were exactly the same as each other. It shouldn't be a big deal, but part of Badger always found that a bit creepy. He preferred hotels like the Weathered Duke's, where each room was different and full of character.

However, all that this place needed to be was somewhere to rest their heads, so as soon as they were inside and put their bags down he turned to Louis.

“Tell me everything,” he demanded.

“Nah, you go first,” insisted Louis.

“Why do I 'ave t' go first?” whined Badger.

“It's only fair, like,” Louis stated, “You're the one that's been everywhere and seen everyone. I've been stuck in the dark since I left and I hardly know anything about what's gone on other than what Crowlo's said in his letters.”

“Then who's fault is that fer not keeping in touch?” scolded Badger, “But ah'reet, I'll fill yer in. Fergive me if I go oveh summit Crow's already said though, I dunno what 'e's written to everyone.”

“That's fine, I don't mind,” assured Louis. He gestured for Badger to go on as he took a seat on one of the beds.

“Okay, so afteh yer left things got a little weird at the auctions,” Badger started, as he tried to whirl his memory back to that time, “Crow wanted t' kick it up a gear, so we made a lotteh changes. We brought Tony back in on it and Arianna came, too. Things went pretteh well, but Crow started t' get idle and wanted to try 'is luck elsewhere. We worked 'ard to prove that we could manage without 'im. It were a bit of a stretch, but eventually Crow, Scraps and me decided t' go.”

“I knew you'd never leave Crow,” Louis laughed.

Badger ignored the hot flush in his cheeks and continued, “Yeah, well we went t' London. Roddeh did as well, but we didn't know that 'til lateh. Found 'is dad and everything. But anyway, we started up the auctions in London along with some friends Crow 'ad down there from 'is first visit. Onleh... it didn't go as planned. I wouldn't say it went badly or owt, Scraps and Roddeh seemed to like it, but me and Crow couldn't cut it there.”

“He's told me that much in his letters,” admitted Louis, “Says you and him are trying to start up a shop in Southampton. How'd you end up there of all places?”

“It just kindeh 'appened,” said Badger, with a shrug, “But that brings us up t' now. Me and Crow are starting anew, Roddy and Scraps are in London and as far as I know, mostleh everyone else is still in Mist'allereh. Though I 'aven't spoke t' Wren and Socket in a while. Crow says they're doing good from what the lettehs imply. It'd be nice t' see them again though.”

“Then why don't you go?” Louis asked.

“One visit at a time!” dismissed Badger, “It's taken all me nerves just t' get up 'ere and see yer.”

“Yeah, which means you're already, like, half way there,” Louis pointed out, “It'd be easier to go from here to Northumberland than to go back down south then up again.”

“I can't just do that,” argued Badger, “It'd mean leaving Crow fer way too long.”

“Well, if you're that worried about him, then it's probably not a good idea. I just think that if I were you then I'd want to get out onto the road and see as many of my mates as I could while I had the chance,” Louis said.

“Then why don't yer then?” challenged Badger, “We've all been worried about yer.”

“I've got... too much tied up here right now,” Louis evaded, “But you don't. And if you wait too long then you will be tied up in that shop and not able to escape. You'll deffo regret it if you don't do this while you have the chance.”

“I'll think about it,” Badger concluded, “Now tell me what's gan on with yer good self, Lozza?”

“Not much. Wanna go out now?” asked Louis. He suddenly pulled himself up from where he was sat.

“Leave it off, I can tell summit's up!” Badger shot, not budging from where he was sat.

Louis growled. He actually growled. “This is why I didn't call you all sooner. You always pry in and need to know everything, especially Crow.”

“We onleh do it because we care...” mumbled Badger. It was hard to ignore how much Louis's accusation had stung him.

“I know that! Really, I do! But... the world isn't quite that simple,” sighed Louis, “Look, I know that Crow wants us to be, like, his precious crew forever and he wants to look out for us, but it can't always be that easy. We all have our own lives and sometimes we have problems that we don't wanna drag anyone else into.”

“We want t' 'elp. That's why we stick our noses in. Especially Crow, yeah,” Badger insisted.

“Then... be there when I ask you to, but don't pry until then,” Louis concluded, “I'm not an idiot, I know when I need help, like. But right now it's not worth bringing anyone else into.”

“Will it get that far? Whateveh it is,” checked Badger.

There was an unsettling pause before Louis replied, “I dunno yet. But hopefully not.”

“And I can't get yer t' tell me any more than yer 'ave?” Badger pressed.

“Nah. You can't,” confirmed Louis, “But let's not fret over this. I wanted to have a good time with my best mate Badger, not get all worked up about stuff. Can we... just go out and have a good time?”

He looked desperate at this point. Even Badger's nervousness at being surrounded by strangers in unfamiliar places couldn't deny him this.

“Yeah, let's go then,” agreed Badger.

With that, he got up and the two of them left the hotel to explore the city some more. It turned out not to be as bad as Badger was expecting. Most likely Louis could tell he was nervous and took them to very tame bars that were easy to leave if Badger got uncomfortable. And it seemed that wherever they went there was someone who'd know Louis and want to talk to him. So whatever his problem was it couldn't have anything to do with his social life.

They trawled from one place to the next until it got dark enough for Badger's confidence to finally give up and suggest they go back to the hotel.

“Nah, nah, I wanna show you the Albert Dock first, like,” Louis slurred. Part of Badger was suspicious that he'd had more than a few shandies tonight, but then Louis was the oldest one of the group and if Badger was eighteen then Louis was well within okay to have a drink or two. Even if it did put Badger a little on edge.

So he humoured Louis and walked with him all the way down to the docks, which were beautiful. As he looked out on the ships and water Badger instantly found himself thinking of Southampton and how Crow might be getting on there.

They stood there together for a while, with Louis resting his arms on the railing. Badger was just about to suggest going back to the hotel once more when Louis spoke up again.

“You should do it, you know? You should deffo go visit Wren and Socket... and, like, all the others,” he whispered.

“This again?” mumbled Badger, a bit tactlessly.

Louis turned to look at him. His glasses had misted up something awful, but behind them Badger could just make out the sadness in his eyes. And he felt very bad for him.

“You should do it while you have the chance,” Louis pressed.

“Ah'reet, I'll sort summit out tomorreh,” promised Badger, “And will yer tell me what's wrong with yer?”

Louis hiccuped; “...N-no.”

“Yer so difficult, Lozza...” Badger grumbled.

But he knew that was that. Even if Louis might seem light-hearted most of the time, if he didn't want to do something then he wouldn't move on the matter. Badger wasn't going to find out what was wrong with him, at least not this time. But he could pick apart that whatever it was, it was stopping Louis from being free to go see the others. And if doing that instead of him was the one thing Badger could do for Louis then he wasn't going to turn away from it. Even if he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to explain this to Crow.

The two of them made their way back to the hotel after that and it didn't take much convincing for Louis to slump onto his bed and fall into a deep sleep. Part of Badger wanted to go down to the reception and ask if he could use their phone, but Crow would probably already be long in bed by now and it wasn't worth waking him up to worry him. Everything could be sorted out in the morning...

***

It surprised Badger to find that Louis had woken up before he did the next day. It did not surprise Badger to find that this was because Louis had his face down in the toilet, noisily throwing up.

“If yer make too much mess they'll charge us extra,” Badger warned, from where he was stood in the doorway.

“It all went in the bowl...” moaned Louis, as he pulled the handle.

“That's more than I need t' know,” Badger gagged.

“I'm fine, thanks for asking,” Louis muttered, getting himself back onto his feet. It took him a moment to steady himself, but he seemed otherwise all right.

“Do yer remembeh much of last night?” checked Badger. He kind of hoped that Louis had forgotten their conversation from out on the docks.

“Yeah, I remember that I need to phone Crow to tell him, like, what's what before you lose your bottle and back out,” Louis answered.

“Usualleh I'd argue with yer, but it'll be too funneh to 'ear yer 'ave a go at Crow,” Badger admitted.

With that, the two of them tidied themselves up (which took a lot longer for Louis than it did for Badger), gathered their belongings and went downstairs ready to check out. Because they were quite prompt out of the room, the receptionist had no problems with letting them use the phone. Badger stepped back to allow Louis to do the talking.

“Hey there Crowlo, it's your old mate, Louis,” hummed Louis, so breezily that you couldn't even tell he was hungover, “Just letting you know that Badger made it here safe and sound. ...Uh-huh. Oh yeah! We've had a great time, like! ...Yeah. ...That's good, yeah. Look, um, there's one other thing. Poor Badger says he feels cooped up in a cage right now. He wants to be free to fly.”

Badger grabbed the phone from Louis; “I neveh said that!”

“...Badge'? Wot is 'e talkin' about?” Crow's voice crackled from the other end. Obviously he was confused.

But now Louis snatched the phone back to carry on; “Look, Crow. We've been talking, like, and it sounds as if Badger hasn't seen the others for ages. And I bet you haven't either. So I said to him, maybe it'd be a good idea if he goes to visit them while he's on the move anyway. Could be a good way to check up on them, yeah?”

It was clear what Louis was doing now, appealing to Crow's mother hen nature to make sure that all the others would be all right. There was no doubt that Crow would agree to this. Or at least that was what Badger thought up until Louis twisted his face and turned back to him.

“He wants to talk to you,” Louis informed.

“Yeah?” prompted Badger, once he'd got the phone back.

“Are ya sure about this, Badge'? I know that travellin' makes ya nervous,” Crow checked.

“I... I reckon I am,” Badger replied, even if he wasn't actually sure, “Louis's right that I might not get anotheh chance like this soon.”

“Then I think ya should do it,” Crow said, “An' don't worry about me. The workahs turned up right on time yestahday an' I've bin crackin' the whip evah since. Kinda nice to 'ave some new faces to boss around. Though I 'ope that one guy was jokin' when 'e said 'e might go to 'is union...”

“Sounds like yer pushing 'em too 'ard, Crow!” Badger warned, though he was laughing when he said it, “But I'm glad yer fine with this.”

“More than fine. So where's the first stop gonna be?” checked Crow.

“Probableh Wren and Socket, since they're closeh,” Badger answered, “Wouldn't make sense t' go from 'ere, down to Mist'allereh and then all the way back up t' Nort'umbehland.”

“That does sound like the best plan,” agreed Crow, “Just make sure ya ring ahead to let 'em know ya comin'.”

“Will do. And Crow...? Take care, yeah?”

“Only if you do, Badge'.”

There was a lump in Badger's throat after that. He passed the phone back to Louis and let him talk to Crow for a while as he steadied himself. Being away from Crow for a suddenly unknown length of time made him nervous, but he tried to focus on how nice it would be to see the others again. Louis was right about that.

It didn't take long until Louis also bid Crow goodbye and hung up on him. Then he turned back to Badger. Perhaps Badger's worries were more apparent than he'd hoped they'd be, because Louis then said that he'd call Wren and Socket for him. Maybe that was a good idea though, since Louis did seem to be the one so desperate to check on the others. At least this way he'd get to hear another familiar voice.

Badger listened as Louis called. It went about as amusingly as he'd expected it would.

“Hello, is that little Socket? ...Yeah, it's Louis! Remember me? Nice to hear from you, mate! ...Look, can you put Wren on the line? I'd much rather talk to her. ...Nah, I'm only kidding! No need to get annoyed,” Louis chuckled. Socket must have been yelling, because he briefly held the receiver away from his ear before going back to carry on, “...So she's not there? And your mam neither? ...I see. That's a shame. 'Cause I've got Badger here and he wants to come visit you all.” After another pause Louis looked at Badger and said, “He wants to talk to you.”

“Socket...?” Badger whispered, taking the phone from Louis.

“Carrotnose! It's really you!” Socket blared, “Is it true then? Do ya wanna come stay with us?”

“If that ah'reet with yer family,” replied Badger.

“Well, they're not 'ere right now. Mum's workin' an' Wrenny's off at school, but I know they'd be fine with it. Is Crow coming with ya?” Socket said. All the words were coming out of his mouth in such a hurry that it was a wonder they didn't trip over each other.

“Nah, Crow's not 'ere right now, I'm in Livehpool with Lozza,” Badger told him, “But yer realleh should check with yer mam before I turn up out the blue. And if Wren's in school then why aren't yer with 'er?”

“Don't get all borin' like they do,” huffed Socket, “If I say ya can come over then ya can.”

“This is serious, Socket,” Badger pressed.

“I am serious. Come on, Carrotnose! It'll be great to see ya again without moody Crow an' Wren gettin' all annoyed about their crushes on each other,” Socket went on. Even now he seemed unable to accept that poor Wren's feelings for Crow went one way only, “I wanna hang out like we used to.”

It was difficult to say no to Socket.

“Fine, but you've gotteh tell 'em when yer can and if they don't like it then I'll spend the aftehnoon with yer then go back down south,” reasoned Badger.

“They won't mind, everyone likes ya, Badger. But okay, I'll let Mum know when she gets back for lunch,” Socket vowed, “So 'urry up an' get 'ere, okay?”

“I will, I promise,” Badger laughed.

With that, Socket hung up before Louis even had a chance to talk to him again. But neither of them were surprised. Before Tony came along, Socket had always been the youngest Black Raven and was kind of a whirlwind in his actions. No doubt he was now off getting the place ready for when Badger got there. Hopefully he would remember to tell someone about it as well.

After a quick breakfast on the way, Badger decided that he'd be best sticking to the train for the rest of the journey, since it'd be the fastest way there. So him and Louis went back to the station before they parted ways.

“Doesn't feel like you've been here five minutes, but I guess that's just how it goes, like,” mumbled Louis, once they were on the platform.

“Mebbe I'll stay fer longeh next time, if I'm lucky,” Badger soothed, “And seriously Lozza, if summit does go badleh wrong then our doors always open fer yer down in Sout'ampton. We're yer friends and we want t' 'elp.”

“Thanks, I'll remember that. Looks like this is your train though,” Louis pointed out.

It annoyed Badger that Louis was being so dismissive when there was something clearly wrong here, but he was right that the train was arriving and if he stayed to argue his point any further he'd miss it. And it would be wrong to make Socket wait too much, lest he worry or think Badger was pulling his leg by saying he'd visit.

Badger climbed onto the step of a carriage then shouted back to Louis, “Call us!”

“I will!” Louis yelled.

After that Badger was shoved onto the train by the other passengers and didn't get another chance to say anything to Louis. As he found his seat and waved to Louis out the window, he hoped that his message had gotten through the wall his friend seemed to have built up around himself.

The train then pulled away and Louis's curly mop of hair disappeared from view. The voice of doom inside Badger's head planted the idea that he would not be seeing his friend again for quite sometime after this. Badger pressed his eyes shut and hoped it was wrong.

[samcybercat]

Title: Advice from the Market Stall – Part One Rating: PG-13 Genre: General Series: Professor Layton Shipping(s): Mentions of one-sided Wren/Crow Character(s): Marilyn, Louis Summary: Marilyn is known both for being a good salesperson and being wise beyond her years. Here are a few examples of her giving advice to others and perhaps even learning about herself as she does. Notes: This is a side-story for Grasping Liquid, featuring a series of connected one-shots about Marilyn's actions during Act Two. The first chapter is set during Chapter Ten of Grasping Liquid, when Marilyn & Louis walked off together to talk about Louis's family situation. Sadly this story probably won't make too much sense if you're reading this entirely as it's own thing, so if you do want to read it then I'd recommend having read up to the end of Act Two of Grasping Liquid.

Louis was unusually quiet as he made his way with Marilyn back to her family's market stall. She picked up on this straight away, although it wasn't exactly a genius observation when it came to Louis. The scouser was well known for his gossipy ways and usually the only times he wasn't talking were when he was listening to scandalous news that others had to say. That was not the case right now though. As he walked he seemed sort of dejected and there wasn't anyone around for him to listen into the conversations of as a form of distraction. It was just the two of them.

Naturally Marilyn was concerned about this, but she knew that she'd get him to talk soon enough. The two of them had been best friends as far back as she could remember and if anything was bothering Louis then Marilyn was usually the first to hear about it. All she had to do was wait for him to open up. And maybe provide a bit of prompting for him to do just that.

As they reached the stall itself Marilyn went through the motions of setting up; she hauled the wooden containers into place, before filling them with some of the groceries her father had left covered behind the stall earlier that morning. It wasn't an easy life between getting the fresh fruit there each morning and then returning to care for her mother, so Marilyn didn't begrudge him for not setting up himself. Besides, it would have been foolish to leave the wares on display when Marilyn hadn't yet got there to guard the stall. Perhaps the market wasn't busy at this time, but it was still home to many opportunists. Marilyn knew that from being one herself.

She felt a little bad that she'd got there later than usual this morning, not that her dad would know either way. If it was down to Marilyn then she'd have set up much earlier, but she'd needed to talk to Crow and the leader's movements could sometimes be so erratic that it was often a case of grabbing him as soon as you found him if you had something you wanted to say.

But she was here now and that was what mattered. All being late meant was that she'd have to push her sales pitches to sell extra, which she wasn't worried about being able to do. This was her trade. She was an expert.

The same could not be said for Louis, however, who although helping set up was doing so by merely lifting one small punnet of strawberries at a time onto the counter.

“Come on, Lozza! Lift any more than that and people might accuse you of doing some work,” she goaded.

Louis dropped a punnet onto the counter and put his hand over his heart; “Wouldn't wanna ruin my reputation, like, would I?”

“Why spoil what you've spent a lifetime building up,” Marilyn agreed.

“Yeah...”

That reply hung in the air for far too long. It wasn't like Louis not to follow up with another quip. Something was definitely wrong today and she needed to get out of him what it was.

“All right, let's not mess about here,” pressed Marilyn, “What's wrong with your face?”

“Nah, you're not gonna win that way, Mal,” huffed Louis, suddenly sounding more like himself, “Tell me what you were talking about with Crow first and then I'll think about letting you know what's bothering me.”

Marilyn tutted, “Well, I was going to tell you about Crow anyway. But if you're going to be like that then I guess I'll just talk to everyone else first and get back to you later.”

“You can't do that! You know how much I hate being the last to know!” whined Louis.

“I do know, which is why I wouldn't do that to you,” Marilyn assured, “So I'll tell you about Crow now, but you need to promise that you'll talk once I'm done.”

“Will do,” vowed Louis, with a small nod, “It wasn't gonna be a secret anyway, not for long, like...”

She hated when he acted cryptic like that, it didn't suit him. But she had made a promise to go first, so Marilyn took a breath and started her story.

“Wren's been writing to me for some time,” she informed, “Lately she's been talking about having some of us come up to stay with her and Socket in Northumberland, so I thought it could be a good chance for Crow to make up for what he did the last time he went up there.”

Louis winced, given that he had also been part of that plan.

“Yeah, that was deffo a mess, like,” he agreed, “I reckon us lot that were involved should go say sorry for real. Though, um, I'm not sure I'll be able to...”

“Why's that?” Marilyn checked.

“Nah, I said you need to finish your story first,” huffed Louis.

“Very well, inviting you wasn't part of the plan anyway,” Marilyn dismissed.

“Charmed!” Louis snorted.

“It's nothing like that. It's just that Crow was the one who messed up. The rest of you were caught in his whirlwind like you always are, just following along and hoping that he knew best,” continued Marilyn, “There's really no stopping him once he gets an idea into his head.”

“That's our Crow all right. But you weren't planning on sending him up there on his tod now, were you?” asked Louis.

“No, that would go terribly,” Marilyn answered, “Especially given how poor Wren feels about him. She must be so confused and shaken up after last time, even if she doesn't show it... But I thought about who to send up and I reckon we could kill two birds with one stone on this trip.”

“That's... very practical of you?” replied Louis, completely lost to what she meant.

“Well, Badger's been just as hurt by what happened, maybe even more so,” Marilyn went on, “I think that he wants to connect with Crow again, but it's kind of hard to do that when they've got the failings of the black market hanging over them every day and each of them thinks it's their fault. A break from Misthallery could be what they both need.”

“So you're saying you want just Badger and Crow to go?” checked Louis.

“That's right. This morning I was tricking Crow into thinking it was his idea,” Marilyn chuckled, “But anyway, now you know what I was talking to him about, so spill the beans on what's been bothering you.”

The face that Louis pulled was almost glum enough to turn the fruit at the stall rotten, but regardless he did concede defeat that they had agreed to this.

“I don't wanna tell you, Mal. Like, really don't wanna tell you,” he sighed.

“Nothing you do can surprise me,” Marilyn insisted, “I've known you since you first moved here and I reckon that I've seen you try almost everything in that time.”

“Moving's sort of what I need to tell you. As in we're moving back the way we came...” mumbled Louis.

“Back to Liverpool...?” Marilyn asked.

“Yeah, that's right. It's been on the table for a while now, but I was never sure we'd go through with it,” answered Louis, “But, like, Dad's not getting any better. We all know that. The Black Ravens more than anyone. So Mum finally put her foot down and decided that getting out of this town and back to our roots might help him sort his priorities out.”

“This is just it then? You're leaving?” she pressed.

Louis smirked; “Betcha didn't see that one coming, did you?”

“No... I didn't. But why are you smiling? What could there possibly be in this to smile about?” snapped Marilyn.

“Because you didn't know it was going to happen,” Louis clarified, “In this town you know everything that happens to everyone, sometimes even before they do. Crow's the one who fancies he's pulling the strings, but only because you let him think that. You can tell what almost everyone's going to do and here I've managed to do something that you didn't guess was coming.”

“That's no reason to be glad about it. You're still moving!” Marilyn reminded.

“Yeah, and that's awful, don't get me wrong,” agreed Louis, “But I know you as well as you know me and I worry about you, Mal. You're so good at what you do and you work so hard for everyone's sake that sometimes I think you forget to just be you. So I'm glad that in this town where you've got everything figured out that there's still some things that can surprise you.”

“Look at you, getting all deep,” Marilyn evaded, “They're going to be impressed at how much you've changed if you go back to Liverpool spouting stuff like that.”

“I learned from the best,” he hummed.

Marilyn nudged him with her elbow; “Leave it off. You know your charms don't work on me.”

Before Louis could make any sort of retort a customer came over to inspect the stall. He stepped away, since he knew it was off-putting to have someone loitering around the stall like he was when the customers were looking at the wares. Fortunately the woman was a regular and didn't pay him much mind, checking over today's selection of tomatoes while listening to a sales pitch from Marilyn. By the time she went on her way Marilyn had managed to sell her a bunch of carrots, two heads of lettuce and a cucumber on top of the tomatoes she'd originally dropped by for. As well as making money out of them, Marilyn liked to believe that she kept the residents of Misthallery eating healthy greens.

Louis waited a few moments before scooting back across to the stall. Though even with some time to think about it Marilyn wasn't quite sure what to say to him.

“...I'm sorry you're leaving,” she settled on.

“Yeah, me too,” Louis replied, “It's going to be hard. And I'm still not sure how to let the others know. Except for Badger, I already told him.”

“I should be insulted that I'm not the first to know,” Marilyn joked.

“Well you were off arranging your master plan to save Crow and Badger from themselves,” reminded Louis, “...But seriously, Mal, don't get so caught up in helping everyone else that you forget to help yourself.”

“I'm sure I'll manage,” Marilyn replied. It came out a bit colder than she intended to say it.

“Yeah, you will. I know you will,” assured Louis, “Heck, I don't even know what I'm gonna do without you, like.”

“Probably get into all kinds of trouble and not feel bad about it,” Marilyn predicted.

“That sounds like me,” Louis laughed, “Anyway, I can see that more people are starting to hang about now, so I better let you get on with your work. Gives me a chance to tell everyone else about what's happening.”

“Good luck with that,” said Marilyn. And she meant it.

“Maybe later when the stall's closed we can go grab a couple of shandies and go sit up on the rooftops,” Louis offered, “Talk about the future or whatever.”

“I'd like that. But not the talking about the future bit. There's still too much uncertain to talk about that,” Marilyn replied.

“Even to you?” teased Louis.

“Yes, even to me,” Marilyn confirmed, “But if we just talk about the times gone by then maybe that'd be nice. The future's going to come whether we want it to or not...”

“Sometimes it's best just to run head first into it,” Louis suggested.

“You would say that,” Marilyn retorted.

“It's the tried and true Lozza way. So... yeah, I'll be off now. Meet you here later,” he mumbled, sounding a lot less sure of himself than he usually did.

“Wouldn't miss it,” she promised.

After that she expected him to make some joke about how no girl could turn down meeting up with Louis. That was the sort of thing he'd normally come out with. But this time there was nothing. He opened his mouth, closed it again and then turned away from the stall.

“Th-thanks for being my friend...” he whispered.

“Don't get all mushy on me,” Marilyn warned.

“Nah, I'm... I'm not. Well, best be off then. Catch you later, Mal!”

“See you around, Lou-”

He darted off before Marilyn could even finish that. She wasn't surprised though, not really. Louis prided himself on his ridiculous ideals and to be seen crying in public wouldn't be great for him. Deep down Marilyn knew that Louis would miss her, the sentiment came across.

She'd miss him just as much. The two of them were the eldest of the Black Ravens and had been thick as thieves for a long time. He was easy to talk to and underneath his lazy teenager exterior, Louis was about as sharp when it came to the others as Marilyn herself was. It would be a shame not to have anyone to talk to about them now, especially when there were so many troubles on the horizon. But at the end of the day he needed to sort of his family's problems first and foremost. She wasn't going to argue that it would do his dad good to get away from the temptations of the black market.

So it would just be her from now on, single-handedly working the lives of the Black Ravens into a better place. Even if Louis said that she shouldn't. She had to. What other choice was there?

Marilyn sighed, stood up and smiled out to the world.

“Come on, everyone! I've got red apples, green apples, any kind of apples you can imagine! 50p a bag! You won't find a better deal than that this side of Misthallery!”

And, as always, she ploughed on.

[samcybercat]

Title: Grasping Liquid – Part Ten Rating: PG-13 Genre: Angst Series: Professor Layton Shipping(s): One-sided Badger/Crow Character(s): Badger, Louis, Crow, Marilyn, Gus Summary: After having a brief time to rest, it seems that some of the Black Ravens are on the move again. Though not all in the same direction... Notes: And finally we're at the beginning of Act Two! This act is going to be a slight change of pace from the first one and I promise that things should be a bit less miserable for poor Badger. Also, I know I've plugged this to death already, but I wrote a side-story for Grasping Liquid entitled Squawking at Chimneys, that deals with Crow's first trip to London. If you're interested in Crow & Umid's part of Grasping Liquid and haven't read the side-story already then it's probably worth a look.

Although Badger wasn't sure that time was as good of a healer as people made it out to be, he had to admit that putting a month between what happened in London and now had been helpful. At least it meant that he could look at everything more objectively, if nothing else.

He still had trouble believing that it had all happened over only a few days. Crow getting back from his mysterious holiday, their trip up north to find Wren & Socket, the unplanned visit to London, finding out about... about Crow & Umid, passing out in a cold street at night and finally being brought back to Misthallery – it all felt like it had drained much longer from Badger.

And although since then his days had been mostly uneventful, they were also far from without change. Especially given that he'd been staying with Crow and his mum the whole time since he'd gotten back. Part of Badger was worried that if they got found out, Maureen could get into a lot of trouble. But one thing life had taught him was that people would generally keep their heads down when it came to what strange market families were doing. So far no one outside of their immediate circle of friends had said anything about Badger's new living situation.

It was also kind of nice to get to know Maureen, after years of her being kept a mystery from them all by Crow. She'd taken to Badger right away and while she was very brash, Badger found her easy to get along with as well. On top of that, he had to admit it was oddly nice to see someone who'd frequently knock Crow off his high horse.

Speaking of Crow, he hadn't been doing the best he could have been lately...

“All right, Badger?”

His thoughts were interrupted by a call from down below. When Badger turned to see, he found that Louis was already climbing the steps up to the lookout.

“Y-yeah,” Badger answered, as Louis got to the top, “What about you? Doun't often see Lozza up at this time in the mornin'.”

Louis chuckled, but Badger could tell it was evasive; “Can't I come and check up on you when I feel like it?”

“If you want. Though there's nowt goin' on 'ere,” Badger assured him.

“Nah, none of us have had as much to do since Crow cut the auctions down to once a week,” agreed Louis, “I think he has the right idea, though. We were all a bit shaken after he left for London. It's gonna take a while until we're back in the shape we were before. Especially without Wren and Socket's help. And also without... well, um, I mean, how is Crow doing lately anyway? You see him more than any of us.”

While Badger knew there was something else Louis was hiding, he wouldn't get any answers by outright asking about it. Since Louis was one of the biggest gossips in Misthallery, he would tell Badger exactly what was on his mind soon enough. It just took some talking in circles to trick him into to doing it.

“I think 'e's seen betteh days,” Badger answered. There was no point in beating around the bush with it; “Losin' those two was 'ard on 'im and I reckon 'e's still tryin' to find that fire 'e lost. But... um, 'e did come with me to see me dad a few days ago...”

“That's great!” chimed Louis, “I hope that the old man is getting better.”

“Seems to be,” Badger mumbled.

He still didn't feel all that comfortable talking about his dad, even with a good friend like Louis. But it was nice to know his dad was around people who could help him. Badger just wished they weren't the sort of people who asked lots of probing questions. If Crow hadn't been by his side, then Badger  probably would have clammed up entirely when the doctors started talking to him and that  would have only made the situation worse.

It seemed that Louis could tell this wasn't a subject Badger wanted to pursue, so he changed tact; “Anyway, do you know what Crow and Marilyn are chatting about?”

“Hmm?” prompted Badger. This was the first he was hearing about it.

“I'll take that as a no,” sighed Louis, “It's been driving me well batty. Usually Mal will let me know any juicy secrets before anyone, but this morning she went off with Crow as if whatever it was could only be fit for his ears. It's not fair, innit?”

“Must be summit private,” dismissed Badger, who didn't quite have the ear for gossip that Louis did. Other people's business didn't matter to Badger, unless it had something to do with him. As much as they both did have a lot to do with him, he knew that didn't mean he was entitled to know all of their businesses.

And this wouldn't be the only subject Crow's had his lips sealed about, either...

“I'll find out,” Louis vowed, “There's no way Mal can keep something from me forever. Just you wait, I'll be back here telling you what's what sooner than you think.”

“If you say so,” hummed Badger.

There was a pause and Badger could tell that it was uncomfortable on Louis's part. Given that Badger was the master of awkward silences, he could spot them from other people almost as well as he created them himself. It seemed as if Louis had exhausted any topics he had prepared to put off talking about whatever it was he had really come here to say.

After Badger had left him to his thoughts for a while longer, Louis finally cracked; “I might not be able to come back here and tell you though...”

“Oh? Why's that?” asked Badger, raising an eyebrow under his mess of hair.

“Because... well, aarrgghh, you're the first person I'm telling this. I can only imagine how the others are gonna take it,” groaned Louis. He ran his hand through his hair as he carried on, “But... um, this isn't like Wren & Socket, okay? Don't take it that way.”

“Are you movin'?” Badger checked.

“Not forever, no,” Louis answered, “But we are going back to Liverpool for a while. We've all been talking and we've agreed that being out here hasn't helped dad's habits at all. So we thought that going home, being away from it all for a bit, might do him some good.”

The subject of Mr. Shackwell was one that the Black Ravens skirted around as often as they could. It was unfortunate for them all. Because ever since they'd started the auctions, Louis's dad had been one of their best customers. This was far from a good thing. Shackwell would spend the little money Louis's family had on worthless trinkets at the black market. Most of that money would go back to Louis, but it didn't help his family to have his dad doing this instead of looking for work and it didn't help the Black Ravens to have to lose money they could have earned from genuine customers. Badger had assumed that the auctions slowing down might have helped Louis's family, but apparently this wasn't the case.

“I'm sorreh to 'ear that,” mumbled Badger, “Couldn't you stay 'ere yourself? You're old enough.”

“I did think about it,” Louis admitted, “I reckon that Roddy would put me up in his spare room if I begged him. But then I thought that maybe this would be good for me too. Our little trip to Chillingham reminded me of how much I missed it up north. So maybe it'd be better to get away while we're having a slow season. That way I can come back refreshed and ready to help properly once we're on the go again. Now if only I could figure out a good way to drop the news to Crow...”

“Doun't let ol' Crowlo put you off,” insisted Badger, “If 'e starts to 'ave a wobbleh oveh it then I'll sort 'im out.”

Louis chuckled, “Check out you, getting all confident all of a sudden. I feel much better knowing I've got Badger to protect me from the big, bad Crow.”

Now Badger joined him in his laughing. They would have kept it up for a while longer, if not for sighting Crow and Mariln walking past. It seemed that the two of them were done with whatever they'd been talking about earlier, which was clearly all the cue Louis needed to go pester them about it. Badger followed along behind, since he was at least a bit curious at this point.

“There's the face I wanna see,” Crow called, as they came close, “Not yours, Louis. Ya can take that mug elsewhere.”

“I know when I'm not wanted,” Louis huffed.

“We should just let them talk,” instructed Marilyn. She took Louis's arm to lead him away and Badger was certain that she was going to tell him what they'd been talking about anyway. It would be unusual for those two not to know everything that the other did.

“Um, I'll see you both lateh,” said Badger. In truth he'd wanted to talk a bit more to Louis about him leaving, but he also couldn't ignore whatever Crow so pressingly wanted to say to him.

“Yeah. And Badger? Don't worry about anything,” Louis replied, “Whatever happens, it'll be all right.”

Crow frowned at that; “Somethin' I need to know about?” he asked, as the other two disappeared around the corner and out of sight.

“Wouldn't be me place to tell you,” assured Badger.

“If ya say so... I do 'ave some news of my own for ya though,” Crow pressed on, “It's about Wren an' Socks.”

“They doin' ah'reet?” checked Badger.

“Bettah than evah! Which is the reason Wren wrote to Marilyn askin' if any o' us wanna go stay up there for a while,” Crow informed, “It seems that their mum doesn't know about... eh, our surprise visit. An' she reckons that 'avin' some o' their friends up might be good for 'em both.”

“That's great news!” cheered Badger.

“It is for us,” agreed Crow, “Not so much for Mal, since she still needs to look aftah 'er parents' stall. But I think Wren might've expected that when she wrote. Any o' the rest o' us are welcome to go, she said, an' I've already decided that I'm goin'. So I wanted to ask if ya wanna come as well...?”

“If you're goin' then so am I,” promised Badger.

Only after saying that did he realise how it might sound. He recoiled a little in embarrassment, but Crow didn't seem to mind. It was still weird for Badger to know that Crow now knew of his feelings for him. But to the leader's credit, he hadn't brought it up since Badger's outburst. Which Badger partly felt was for the best, given that he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it yet. Nor the inevitable rejection that would follow, on account of Crow's own situation.

Umid was another topic Crow had been entirely silent about this last month. Now that was something Badger wished he knew more about...

“I 'oped ya'd say that,” confessed Crow, “But wot about ya dad...?”

“Um, I'll let 'im know I'll be away for a while,” Badger awkwardly answered, “At least this time I can be sure there's people there t' look afteh 'im.”

“Good to 'ear. An' Marilyn said she'd ask the othahs if they wanna come,” Crow told him, “That's probably wot she was gonna talk with Louis about. We just need to wait 'til tomorrow to find out everyone's answahs.”

It felt weird for Badger to hear this, because he knew that this holiday probably wasn't what Marilyn would end up talking about with Louis. But as much as he didn't want to keep secrets from Crow, it also wasn't Badger's place to tell him Louis's business. Clearly Louis wanted to talk this through with the leader himself. Badger was just honoured that he was the first to know the news, even before Marilyn did.

The rest of the day was spent mostly waiting for tomorrow, to receive news of what was going on. In this time, Badger made his way around the market, chatting aimlessly with his friends when they weren't busy. At one point he did see Louis head down the manhole with Crow and Roddy, so he knew to steer clear of that place for a while. During which point, Gus gave the game away about something else.

“I'm not going with you this time,” he replied, when Badger asked about the trip, “Marilyn said it might be best if just you and Crow- ...um, I-I mean... would you like a sherbet dip? I've got an extra one.”

It didn't take a genius to work out what Gus was going to say. And while Badger had no idea what Marilyn might hope to achieve by sending just Crow and Badger away, he had to admit that he was privately glad that it would just be the two of them. Last time they'd talked to Wren & Socket it had gotten all muddled and angry. Hopefully things might work out better with less people around and no one wanting to argue.

So once the next day arrived and Crow was passing on the news, Badger had to act surprised. Although it seemed he didn't do a fantastic job of this.

“Ya don't 'afta pretend ya didn't know about Louis,” scoffed Crow, “'e already told me that 'e let ya know first. Must be a northern thing, the two o' ya stickin' togethah like that.”

“If you say so. But, um, 'ow are you takin' it...?” Badger checked.

“Bettah than I might 'ave done before,” admitted Crow, “I know 'e's comin' back. An' I know that 'is family need this. I think 'earin' it aftah decidin' to go see the othah two 'elped as well.”

“Yeah,” hummed Badger.

He assumed that this was pure luck on Louis's part. Had the scouser told Crow about his plans before Marilyn had got there with her letter, then things might have gone differently. There wasn't much point in worrying about this now though.

“The next bit came as a surprise to me,” Crow went on, “Ya might already know this, but it seems as if none o' the othahs can come with us to Chillin'am. It's a right shame, since they might not get anothah chance like this for a while, but I guess bad timin' can't be 'elped. It's just gonna be you an' me, Badge'.”

“S-sounds ah'reet to me,” mumbled Badger, hoping his face hadn't turned bright red, “What about yer mam though?”

“Mum knows I'm a restless travellah now. She can't stop me when the road calls,” insisted Crow. If Maureen had been here then Badger was sure she'd be snorting loudly at that comment. Crow had been away from Misthallery all of twice.

“That and I bet she wouldn't mind a chance to clean yer room,” prompted Badger, grinning.

“She wouldn't!” squawked Crow.

“Leave it off, Crowlo. We're not cancellin' our trip just 'cause you don't want yer mam spoachin' undeh yer bed,” Badger scolded, though he couldn't stop himself from laughing at the same time.

“I guess ya right...” mumbled Crow, “Though I swear the two o' ya are both against me some days.”

“Can't prove owt about that, can you?” teased Badger.

“Nah, but it does give me somethin' to whine about,” Crow concluded, “Now let's go get ready. I want us both to be propah prepared for the journey this time.”

That was a matter Badger could most definitely agree on. It would be nice to go to see the siblings knowing that this time everyone was going to be on good terms and it was all planned. No trekking through the country without being sure exactly where it was they were going, either. This time, even if they couldn't get a lift from the train station, they would know the route. And they'd know there'd be two friends waiting for them at the end of it as well.

As much as Crow might not have left on the best terms with them last time, Badger is sure that the leader could talk his way through an apology. Crow admitting he was wrong was a rarity that would probably be satisfying enough for Socket at least. And Wren was mature enough to be able to know he wasn't in the right frame of mind last time, to say the least.

It was going to be fine. There was nothing to dread this time. As much as not knowing exactly what was to come generally upset Badger, this time the knowledge that Crow was by his side comforted him instead of unnerved him.

Everything was going to be all right.

[samcybercat]

Title: Grasping Liquid – Part Four Rating: PG-13 Genre: Angst Series: Professor Layton Shipping(s): None Character(s): Badger, OC (Badger's dad), Louis Summary: Badger returns home to get ready for their journey, with a lot on his mind and little to ease his worries. Notes: The character of Badger's dad comes entirely from Spectrumv's version of him. For more stuff featuring him, check out her Black Raven fan comic. Though if you like the Black Ravens in general and haven't read the comic already, then you totally should anyway.

--- The afternoon was settling into a dusky glow by the time Badger reached his house. It wouldn't be long before it started to get dark and Badger hoped that he could have everything sorted out by then. Not that he had that clear of an idea what everything even was or how to go about sorting it out.

When he got to the front door, he peered around the street. For some reason he always felt that he needed to check about when he got home, despite that no one would have any reason to follow him. But the old cobbled lane was free from any onlookers, so he quietly pushed open the door and made his way inside.

As soon as it clicked shut behind him, Badger felt as if he had stepped into another world. His house was an unfriendly place to him and not somewhere he ever wanted to be if he could avoid it. Which was why he spent as much time down at the market as he did. The market was full of friends and bright skies, not the stifling gloom that hung about the tiny rooms here.

Without really meaning to, Badger held his breath and tip-toed through the hall, knowing from experience where to avoid the creaky floorboards. As he past by the living room door he peered inside, checking to see if his dad was home.

Sure enough, the old man was splayed out across the sofa, snoring loudly into the hazy air. On the windowsill a radio was humming, the words too difficult for Badger to make out through the fuzzy crackles. But he didn't mind – the sound would act as a cushion if he made any noise upstairs that might risk waking his dad.

So he made his way up to his room, letting out a sigh as he got through the door. It was chillier in here than the rest of the house, since Badger had left the window open this morning, but Badger wasn't one to be too bothered by the cold. Least of all when he had so many other things on his mind.

Now let's see, what had he even come here for...? Faced with the place he'd been trying to get to since finishing his talk with Roddy earlier, Badger's mind suddenly drew a blank about what he needed. A change of clothes would be a good idea, but Badger wasn't sure how long Crow's little trip was going to last for. All the same, he grabbed his rucksack and started to stuff in a few jumpers and jeans from his drawers, along with other clothes he thought he might need. Best to just pack for a few days, otherwise the bag would be too heavy. If they stayed longer than that, Badger could always find somewhere to wash his stuff or else just get a bit scruffy. He doubted that Crow and the others would be too bothered if he did. They could all be a bit scruffy at times.

Might be a good idea to grab food as well. The others would probably be bringing some of their own, but Badger had very specific tastes. Most foods didn't agree with him and he was happiest with plain fruit and vegetables. Which meant paying a visit to the cupboards downstairs...

He peered around the room, just in case anything else caught his eye. But there wasn't very much here that he could take. Badger had never cared much for material possessions. He'd come to Misthallery with little of his own and what he'd found there had been friends, not objects. As long as he could have his friends, nothing he could own mattered to him.

Maybe Crow felt the same way and that was why he was going to such lengths to get Wren and Socket back.

One thing he did take was his photo of his mam from his bedside table. Because he couldn't stand the thought of what dad might do with it if Badger didn't come back. Maybe he'd just throw it away. Mam didn't deserve to be thrown away...

Badger clutched the photo to his chest for a moment, before packing it into the bag. Best go get that food now, so he could head off without incident.

Getting back down the stairs was harder with a heavy bag, so Badger left it by the front door when he'd reached the bottom. It wouldn't do to make a lot of noise in the kitchen - the little room was so cluttered that he was bound to knock something over if he took the bag through with him.

Thankfully, he wasn't planning to take much. Fruit didn't keep fresh for very long and he wouldn't want to leave his dad without anything, given that Badger knew he would put off shopping until it was unavoidable. Sometimes Badger worried that he'd make himself sick.

As he hunted through the cupboards, that thought lingered in his mind. These days it was mostly down to Badger to make sure his dad got a decent meal. Or a wash. Or any other basic requirements. Without Badger around, maybe his dad wouldn't cope...

If Roddy needed to stay in Misthallery to look after his mam, then should Badger have said he needed to stay to look after his dad?

...But then who would stop Crow from getting himself hurt? No, it was too late for second-thoughts. He'd already decided he was going and that was final. It wasn't as if his dad was incapable of caring for himself and without Badger there to do it for him he might pick himself back up. It was a naïvely optimistic idea, but it was all the comfort Badger could offer himself on the matter.

Arms stuffed full of the food he assumed would keep the longest, Badger made his way back into the hall. He was stuffing it into the top of his rucksack when a particularly loud snort came from the living room. Badger froze, silently begging that his dad would go back to sleep.

“Si...? Is that you?”

No such luck. It seemed that he'd woken himself up with his own snoring.

Badger didn't have to reply. He could wait until his dad had gone back to sleep, then slip out of the door and not be back until who knew when. Maybe he'd never come back. The whole trip had developed such a sense of foreboding at this point that Badger wouldn't be surprised. And heck, his dad probably wouldn't miss him either. Sometimes Badger didn't tell him when he was going to sleepovers and his dad wouldn't even notice until he got back.

It would be sensible not to reply.

“Y-yeah, dad?”

The words came out of his traitorous mouth before he even had the chance to stop them.

“Stop makin' all that racket, I can 'ardly sleep in 'ere.” That could have been it. He could have just replied saying that he'd keep quiet and that would be that. But somehow that didn't feel right to Badger.

“Dad, I'm... g-goin' out fer a-a while.”

Another snore-like grunt, followed by, “All right then?” His dad was probably just as surprised that Badger was telling him this as Badger was that he was saying it at all. Usually Badger just disappeared without a word and came back the next day. Part of him wanted his dad to think that was all he was doing, so he wouldn't try to stop him. But quietly he wondered if the man would even notice anything was amiss.

“S-see ya when I get back,” Badger concluded, picking up the rucksack before his nerves broke.

“Si?”

“Y-eah?”

There was an awkward pause. Neither of them knew what to say to the other and they both suspected something was up. Eventually, Badger's dad seemed to resign to the fact that he just didn't know what to say about this.

“Shut the door on your way out. Wouldn't want t' let in a draft.”

“Will do,” promised Badger, “Um, bye dad...”

“Bye, Simon.” His dad didn't use his full name very often these days. He must know that something was out of place and this wouldn't be the usual sleepover at a friend's house. But he was also permitting Badger to go and Badger shouldn't waste an opportunity like that.

He hurried out of the door, quietly closing it behind him, like his dad had asked. Then without really knowing what he was doing, his legs seemed to move on their own away from the house and down the street.

Crow hadn't arranged a time or place for them to meet, but Badger knew that they'd have to go to the train station in the next town if they wanted to head up to Northumberland. Misthallery didn't have a train station of its own, since the hilly layout of the town made it unsuitable for most transport, but there was another town not too far away that had one. It was a common walk for kids who wanted to travel away for a while and one that Badger himself had taken a few times without even thinking about it.

Of course, he could have gone to stay with one of the others for the night, but somehow that didn't feel right. Because then he'd have to explain why he'd left his own house in such a hurry and Badger wasn't even sure that he could explain that to himself.

It'd be a good idea to at least let someone know he was gone though, lest they hang around waiting for him tomorrow. Or worse, go to Badger's house looking for him. So Badger made a detour through the market itself, since he knew Louis would be lurking there.

Sure enough, the lanky lad was loitering around the closed stalls, with his usual air of trying to avoid work. From the looks of it, Marilyn had long since finished her talk with Louis & Gus and headed home, so helping her pack up her parent's stall was one less job for Louis to avoid doing. And, as much as he liked Marilyn, Badger was glad of the prospect of less people to have to explain himself to.

“All right, Badger? What are you doing about at this time?” Louis called, as Badger drew closer.

“Just thought... I'd, well, 'ead out t' the station early,” Badger replied. And before Louis could ask any questions he continued, “Could ya tell Crowlo? So 'e's not lookin' fer me tomorreh. None of ya 'ave t' rush down, like, but I'll be waitin' there wheneveh yer readeh.”

If Louis thought this was at all strange he didn't let on, simply giving Badger a small nod; “I'll let him know. Chances are he'll wanna be off sharp and all, so we'll probably be joining you soon enough.”

“I'll keep yer seats warm then. See ya, Louis,” concluded Badger, as he started to make his way down the road again.

“Yeah, see you later,” Louis called, sounding a little concerned. Badger couldn't blame him.

Word didn't stay with Louis for long, as he was a renowned gossip and would be bound to tell the others before long. It wouldn't surprise Badger if Crow, Gus and Louis ended up joining him on his walk soon enough. Part of him hoped that would be the case.

But by the time he'd reached the station without any sight of them, he'd decided that a quiet walk on his own had been for the best. Soon enough he'd have lots of time to talk with his friends, but not much time to reflect on things by himself. And there certainly was a lot to think about right now. Not that Badger had come up with any answers to any of these problems, but he was a champion at worrying about stuff.

The station itself was eerily silent at this time, as many of the evening trains had already been and gone. A quick look at the board determined there'd only be a few more before morning, probably filled with hapless commuters. So Badger resigned to take a seat near the entrance, where it would be easy to keep an eye out for the others. He plonked his rucksack down next to him, curling his spindly legs up into his chest and staring out onto the road.

Tomorrow was going to be the start of something, though Badger wasn't sure what it was yet. He knew that it'd be a long journey on the train, as Northumberland was even further up the country than Badger himself had come from. He wasn't sure why Wren and Socket's mam had decided to move there, but maybe they'd find out when they visited. Hopefully they wouldn't be too bothered by a surprise visit, but nothing could stop Crow once he's set his mind to something...

Speaking of Crow, Badger had been trying hard to keep the leader out of his mind as he'd been getting ready this afternoon, but now that he had so much time it was hard not to think of him. As is Crow's way, he'd come back home like a whirlwind and shaken everything up. Though he'd revealed very little about his own journey beyond that he believed it had made him stronger as a person. Badger still had no idea where he'd gone, what he'd done or who he'd met. And he probably wouldn't find any of those things out until Crow saw fit to tell him. Maybe that was for the best, but the curiosity still burned a hole into Badger's chest.

It would be better to focus on their new adventure, which Badger was going to be part of. Not that he's sure how much of an “adventure” this was going to be. But it involved going to new places and having no idea how any of it was going to turn out, so it was already more of an adventure than standing around the market looking out for tourists was.

His mind was an uncomfortable mix of fretting and failed attempts to reassure himself, not helped by the strange glances he got from travellers once the late night trains did start coming in. Thankfully, none of the station's workers asked him to leave, so Badger stayed on his seat, huddled up and looking out for the familiar faces of his friends.

It would have been good to keep watch all night and, given how bad Badger's sleeping habits were, on most nights he'd have been able to manage this. But it seemed that tonight, all of the stress and worry had worn him out. So, without meaning to, Badger drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep...