Notes: ...Guess who I couldn't resist bringing back in this chapter? Also, because we're back in London be prepared for another wave of various PL character cameos. I'll be glad to hear which ones you recognise in this chapter.
The train pulled up into King's Cross station. Badger was glad that this time he knew what to expect from London, so the large crowds both inside and outside of the carriage didn't take him by surprise. The only difference was that now the three of them all had heavy, well-packed bags to carry.
...Though it fast became apparent that Scraps intended to use his suitcase as an extra means to help him shove his way through the mass of people. Badger and Crow had to hurry to keep up with him.
"People in London are so rude," Scraps scolded, as he elbowed between a weasely blonde man and a tall women with a large hat, who Badger had a feeling he'd seen in Misthallery before.
"You're tellin' me," laughed Crow, "But what do ya expect?"
Scraps stopped to scan his head across the crowd. He took in each face with grim judgement and seemed to make up his mind about something. Badger would have put good money on what came out of his mouth next being a jab against the rich. And he turned out to be right.
"It's disgusting. All these snobs gathered together in this hub. They're not like the rich folk back home, I can almost tolerate that lot. But these people, they're sucking our good country dry." A wicked grin passed across Scraps's face; "...I'm going to destroy them."
"That's the idea!" cheered Crow, "Swindle from the rich an' keep it for ourselves."
Badger looked between the two of them and their hungry eyes. Suddenly he realised that Crow and Scraps might have more in common than he'd originally given them credit for. It was going to be tough work keeping both of them in check.
"Let's just get t' the 'otel," prompted Badger. He was eager to get a move on before his friends' bold conversation attracted any unwanted attention.
The other two agreed and they made their way out of the station, mostly by following Scraps's lead. At one point Crow ducked out of sight from a train conductor who was carrying what looked like a microphone. When Badger asked why, Crow mumbled that he might have pick-pocketed from that guy before.
Once they were out on the streets, the three of them didn't hang around to admire the view. They weren't blessed with good weather this time and the rain poured down on them relentlessly. Everyone around them was also dashing for cover, so they had to work hard to keep their little group together. Crow seized Badger's hand without warning to keep him close. It might have caused Badger to have an attack of butterflies in his stomach during any other situation, but right now they were all too focused on getting where they needed to go.
And as much as Scraps might have liked to push through this crowd as well, the fact was that he didn't know the way to the Weathered Duke's Hotel, so he had to rely on the guidance of the other two. It was mostly Crow who led the way, since he'd stayed there more and Badger couldn't remember it too well from the one time he'd been.
After a long and wet journey they made it. Each of them wished they'd had an umbrella as they walked through to the reception, dripping onto the carpet as they went.
"Oi, Mags? Becks? Anyone around?" Crow called.
"Bzzt! Bossy Becky and Granny Margaret are out. But I'll be your host for today's show."
The voice came from the counter, where a short boy who looked around Tony's age was stood waiting. He was staring right at them with eyes that suggested this unexpected visit would put him out of his boredom.
"Oh 'ey, nice to see ya, Max!" greeted Crow, "Don't think ya were 'ere last time me an' Badge' came down to London. But anyway, these are two o' the friends I told ya about, Badgah an' Scraps. An' you two, this is Max, one o' the othah people they roped into workin' at this place."
"N-nice t' meet you," Badger nervously mumbled.
"We're always happy to have new contestants!" replied Max.
"What's this kid's deal?" grumbled Scraps.
"Max talks like a game show 'ost," explained Crow, "No clue why, but ya get use to it aftah a while."
"...That's if you're here long enough to get use to it. Hello, Crow. This is a surprise. Thanks for not giving us any warning that you were coming."
The three Black Ravens turned back towards the door, where a tall young woman with a no-nonsense expression was stood, along with a sleep-looking old lady. Badger recognised Margaret from last time and guessed that the angry girl must be Becky.
"An' 'ere I thought ya would be 'appy to see me," countered Crow, pretending to look as if he was hurt.
"That depends on why you're here," stated Becky. Her eyes narrowed as she regarded him.
"All right, I'll be frank with ya," promised Crow. He dropped the smug act entirely as he went on, so Becky could tell he was being honest; "My friends an' me wanna move to London. But we ain't got a place to stay yet, so we figured that we could 'elp out 'ere at the 'otel for a while until we get on our feet."
"We'd be happy for the extra hand," Margaret assured, "There's enough spare rooms for the three of you, if you don't mind sharing."
"But Granny, we've already got one extra worker arriving today," protested Becky, "This place is only big enough to need so much staff."
"Oh, him? No, he's not staying," Margaret corrected, "Didn't Grafton tell you? He's just popping in to see us all and then he's heading off elsewhere."
"Who's this ya talkin' about?" asked Crow. A hopeful glint appeared in his eyes.
Becky sighed; "Your friend Umid, believe it or not. I was going to send Max to pick him up from the airport, but I suppose you'll wanna go instead?"
"I... um, w-well if it's okay with ya..." Crow stammered.
"Get upstairs and drop your bags off," Becky instructed, "You've got time to get settled for a bit before his flight's due in."
"Thanks Becks, ya still the best!" praised Crow, "Come on you two, let's go."
With that he led Badger and Scraps away up the set of stairs that was cordoned off with a 'STAFF ONLY' sign. Badger quickly waved goodbye to their three hosts before following, since he didn't want to be rude.
"Ya might 'ave guessed, but that was Margaret an' Becky," Crow explained, once they were out of earshot, "Mags is a sweet ol' lady, sleeps most o' the time. Becks... well, she's strict but she 'as a good 'eart deep down."
"I do like people who don't put up with rubbish," Scraps commented.
"They're all 'ard workahs an' not snooty rich toffs, I figured ya would like that, Scraps," added Crow.
"You know me too well," Scraps confirmed.
With that the three of them reached the line of spare rooms and checked inside each of them. It seemed that one was already occupied, probably by Max from the look of all the game show flyers scattered about the floor, so they left that one and took to a room that was more obviously vacant. They were all glad to be able to dump their bags and sit down on a comfy bed after such a long journey.
"I doun't mind sleepin' on the floor," Badger opted, when he saw there were only two beds, "You've 'ad yer fill of that from me stayin' in yer room for so long, Crow."
"We might not 'afta worry about that at all," Crow told him, "It could lead to nothin', but I'm interested to find out where Umid's gonna be stayin', if not 'ere. Maybe if things work out we could go with 'im instead o' moochin' off the Weathered Duke."
"Y-yeah..." murmured Badger, not sure how he felt about that idea.
"But then wouldn't we just be changing mooching from one place to mooching from another?" Scraps enquired.
"I dunno. It'll all come down to wot's goin' on with Umid. But it can't 'urt to look into it," replied Crow, "Anyway, if ya both sorted then we bettah 'ead back downstairs so we can find out when we need to leave to meet the flight."
"You two go ahead," dismissed Scraps, "I've had enough marching around those sorry streets for one day. I'd rather scope this place out and meet this infamous Umid character when you bring him back here."
"I wouldn't call Umid 'infamous'," Crow laughed. But it was a fake laugh, Badger noted. One to hide his nerves.
Scraps shrugged; "If the boot fits."
"We betteh go then," prompted Badger, with a tug on Crow's arm, "Wouldn't want t' keep anyone waitin'."
"Yeah, let's go. We'll be back latah, Scraps," concluded Crow.
They left their friend to his own means and headed back down the stairs. They were both quietly hoping that Scraps would cause any trouble while they were gone. He rarely meant any harm, but his abrupt ways could cause offence to those who weren't familiar with him and Badger reckoned that this might clash with Becky's seemingly hot temper.
Back in the reception they found that Margaret had taken up her post behind the counter again, with Becky and Max having disappeared elsewhere. Crow headed over and caught her attention just as she was starting to doze.
"We're ready to pick up one Umid for ya," he began.
"That's nice, dearie," yawned Margaret, "I've got you his flight times ready, as well as a map, since you're not from around here. I'd recommend taking the Underground for quickness, since there's a line that'll get you directly to Heathrow."
"Thanks, Mags. I promise that I'll get 'im back safe an' sound," Crow vowed, as he took the map and information that she'd offered out to him.
"I don't doubt that, given how fond you were of him," Margaret slyly commented.
"Ah... me an' Umid... w-well, we called things off for the time bein'. Since we didn't know when we'd see each othah again. F-figured it'd be for the best..." stuttered Crow. It surprised Badger to hear him be open about this with anyone.
"I'm sure whatever happens will be what's right for both of you," hummed Margaret.
"Y-yeah... I 'ope so," agreed Crow. Then he shifted his face back into business-mode to draw this discussion to a close; "Right then, we should 'ead off. See ya in a bit, Mags."
Armed with a map and a scrap of paper that had some flight times written on, Crow and Badger left. They took Margaret's advice about travelling via the Underground, which led them into a whole new level of the London rush. It amused Badger to think that up on the surface there were hundreds of people rushing about and then here under the streets there were hundreds more. The city truly did have more crowds than it knew what to do with.
The Underground turned out to be the best choice though, as the tube journey shaved so long off their journey that they arrived at Heathrow with time to spare. Badger was glad of this, as he'd never properly had a chance to look around an airport before. While he had seen them in his lifetime, since he'd never been out of the UK there'd never been much call to give them a second glance. It was interesting to see glimpses of planes leaving and arriving from the outside, as well as the slightly more organised clumps of people that bustled about as they headed through into the building itself.
There was only so far they could go inside without tickets themselves though, so they hung around close to where passengers from incoming flights were said to arrive through. Quite a few others were also doing the same, which led Crow to partake in one of his favourite pastimes – people watching. This was second only to his slightly less savoury pastime - pickpocketing...
"Reckon I could nab that guy's watch without 'im noticin'?" Crow whispered. He nodded towards a tiny fellow with a long beard, who looked like he might have been a university lecturer of some sort.
"Yer could, but I'm not gunna let yer," hissed Badger, "Usually it's fine, but we doun't wanna risk upsettin' that Becky."
"Ya right there. Especially since she caught me out for thievin' once before," resigned Crow, "I'll be'ave then."
After that the two of them sat together for a while. They occasionally chatted but mostly stayed quiet. Which allowed Badger's mind to wander onto the topic that he'd rather it wouldn't – Umid.
A pang of embarrassment ran through him as he remembered how he reacted the last time he'd been to London, when he'd seen Crow and Umid kiss each other outside the hotel. Back then he'd been so overwhelmed with emotion that he'd yelled at Crow and ran away, only to get lost in the dark streets. He hadn't seen Umid after that, because he'd been unconscious up until his return to Misthallery, so now all he could do was worry about how he would react to Badger. Because the truth of the matter was that Badger barely knew Umid at all. They'd seen each other so briefly during that time and Crow didn't talk much about him either. It was also apparent that even Crow hadn't had any contact with Umid since he'd returned to Mosinnia.
"Looks like people are startin' to come out," Crow observed, after they'd been sat there for a while.
It wasn't the first time that this had happened while they'd been waiting. Heathrow was a busy airport, with many flights coming in all the time. But both of them had a good feeling about this one. They headed closer to the gate and hovered around behind those who had got there first.
As they watched, the bearded old man greeted an equally short old woman who seemed to be arriving back from a holiday. The two of them started talking energetically about puzzles and Badger could have sworn he heard Mr. Layton's name mentioned a few times. As well as them, a very lost-looking explorer headed off into the crowd, asking for directions in what sounded like three different languages as he went. Then both Badger and Crow nearly did a double-take as they recognised the singer Naiya, who had spent some time in Misthallery to find inspiration a few years back. Waiting for her was another beautiful woman with red hair, who embraced Naiya in a warm hug. After that they both left in a flurry of discussion about joint concerts.
As the crowd thinned out they started to wonder if this might not have been Umid's flight after all. But then Crow made a small gasp and Badger followed his gaze. Sure enough, the unsuspecting Umid was making his way through the gate.
"Umid...!"
Before Badger had time to react, Crow had bounded forward. It seemed that Umid had been taken by surprise to see Crow here instead of Max, though this didn't stop him from returning the hug that Crow launched upon him. The two stood together like that for just long enough that it started to seem a bit awkward, before Crow let go and backed off. He seemed to look guilty with himself. A horrible part of Badger felt that he probably should feel that way.
"Crow, I didn't expect to see you," confessed Umid, "And Badger too...?"
"Y-yeah... um, 'ello Umid," mumbled Badger. He felt his throat seize up as the wave of nerves hit him.
"We were sent by Becks to pick ya up," Crow relayed, "But word 'as it that ya not stayin' at the 'otel this time."
"No, not for long," confirmed Umid, "I was just going to go how they've been getting on, since I've missed all of you. Then after that I'll be going somewhere else."
"An' can ya tell us anythin' about this mysterious place that ya gonna be goin' to?" Crow asked.
"Of course. It's a long story, but while I was back home in Mosinnia an old friend got back in touch," explained Umid, "I told him that I had been to England for a while and would like to move there one day, but didn't have the money to do so. You might not believe this, but he told me that he had a home in London that he wasn't currently using and arranged for me to be able to stay there free of charge."
Crow whistled; "That must be some rich friend!"
"It is not my place to question his generosity," Umid insisted, "But you must tell me about what the two of you are doing back here. Last I remember, you were headed back up to the country."
"We've 'ad quite the lucky coincidence it seems, 'cause this is our first day back in London as well," Crow answered, "Me, Badge' an' one o' our othah friends, Scraps, 'ave come to try an' start up a business 'ere. Though for the moment we're stayin' at the Weathered Duke."
Umid shook his head and replied, "I won't have it. Not for your sake, but for Becky's. You will drive her up the wall, just like last time. No, for Becky's peace of mind I must insist you all come stay with me."
This was going much better than even Crow could have anticipated. When Badger glanced over at him he couldn't help but that that it was a wonder that he was even managing to keep his feet on the ground with how excited he seemed.
"Wot, really? But we couldn't impose on ya like that. Maybe the place ya stayin' won't be big enough," Crow declined, though it was clear from his tone that he was interested in the offer.
"From what I've heard, it will do just fine. Now let's get back to the hotel so that you can talk with your friends about what you want to do," Umid said.
"L-lemme 'elp you with yer bags," Badger offered, out of nowhere.
He surprised even himself with this, but didn't intend to go back on his word now that he'd said it. After a polite thanks from Umid, Badger reached forward and took two of the bags. Then he turned to head out of the airport before he became overwhelmed by his own nervous embarrassment.
Both Crow and Umid followed behind him, already in full discussion about how they'd been since they'd last seen each other. Badger tried not to get worked up over this, since he knew that jealousy was not a good thing. It had been so long since they'd seen one another that of course the two had a lot they wanted to say, whether there were still feelings there or not. But Badger could tell that, at least on Crow's end, the feelings were still there. He'd hardly looked away from Umid since the moment he'd walked through the gate. After all this time of Badger deluding himself into thinking he might have had a chance with Crow after all... The truth stung more than a little.
They made their way back to the Weathered Duke's Hotel, where Becky, Margaret, Max, Scraps and another man were all waiting for them. It seemed that Becky and Scraps were in the middle of an intense discussion about politics, but this stopped as soon as Umid walked in. All of the hotel staff crowded around him, talking quickly about how much they'd missed him and how well he looked.
While this happened, Scraps slipped away, back towards Crow and Badger.
"How did it go?" he whispered.
"It went well," Crow quietly replied, "Umid's offahed for us to come stay with 'im."
"That was fast. Not that I'm complaining," hummed Scraps.
Before they could get any further talk about this in, Becky called the three of them over. It seemed that she had an announcement to make.
"So, in light of our best temporary employee coming back from Mosinnia for a visit, we've decided to put on a bang-up meal for us all to share," she declared, "Grafton's been working hard on it all day and even though we now have three extra mouths to feed, I reckon we'll have enough. As long as none of you are greedy."
"That sounds good to me!" chimed Crow, decidedly not commenting on the greedy part, "Lead the way to the dinin' room, Becks."
Without needing to be told twice, Becky turned towards what Badger assumed was the way to the dining room. Everyone followed along behind her, eager to get something to eat after the eventful day. For the most part the others were all trying to get a word in with Umid, who seemed to be too polite to tell them that he would like to have some space. The only exception to fussing over was Scraps and Max, who seemed to have started talking to each other about whether or not game shows were fancy hobbies for the privileged.
...Actually, in all honesty, those two weren't the only exception.
Badger trailed along behind everyone, powerless to do anything other than watch as Crow bobbed close to Umid, constantly trying to grab his notice more anyone else. Never had Crow behaved this way around any other person, not in all the time that Badger had known him. The feelings that Crow had for Umid were j-just as intense as Badger's own feelings for Crow, except unlike Badger, Crow wasn't shy about letting them be known.
So right now, Badger couldn't feel any more alone.