The darkness (closed)

"Jack's gone to London. He says he's going to start another empire here, and find Marco. He's going to get himself killed" Ember said sadly as she tightened her grip on the letter.

Austin gave a small roll of his eyes and refrained from scoffing. "He kind of reminds me of someone." He said softly, sarcasm completely gone from his voice. "Wasn't Elizabeth that brash?"
"I have a feelin' tha' he won' find Marco." Benjamin said, raising his gaze to the two Assassins flanking Austin. "I have a feelin' tha' Marco will find us."

"But Elizabeth was one of the best Assassins of her time. Jack has no training, and he's insane." Ember looked at the room around her. Jack seemed to think that he actually was the Joker. "Maybe he'll actually be alright. Well, let's head down to the village. I actually need a bit of normal right now."

Benjamin smiled and Austin couldn't keep the grin from his own face. Both young men stepped out of Jack's room and waited on Ember to lead the way. "Come on, then." Benjamin said eagerly. "Le's all be normal!"

"Well, let's get going" Ember said eagerly before she raced off to the garage. She grabbed a key, and climbed into an old green Land Rover Defender. She looked in the glove box, and put in a cassette. "Heading to the barber first."

Benjamin and Austin both climbed in. One was in the back seat and the other up with Ember. Both young men had enough sense to even put on their seat belts. "Someone getting their hair cut?"
"My hair's gettin' ou' of control." Benjamin laughed, running a hand through his hair.

"I actually think you look kinda hot with your hair getting like that. You look a bit like Uhtred from the last kingdom." Ember blushed slightly before she pulled out of the garage. The cassette was playing jukebox hero by foreigner. Her thumbs tapped the steering wheel in sync with the beat.

"Well, here we are" Ember said as the car came to a stop in front of the barbershop.

Benjamin leapt out first and gave a stretch before he headed inside, the bell ringing and announcing his presence. "Do we have to go in too?" Austin asked quietly while he watched the Australian disappear inside.

"Right, right." So Austin simply sat back in his seat with one earbud in and listening to his Spotify playlist while he watched Benjamin pay for his haircut before he got it cut and then he watched as the Australian actually made conversation with the barber. After a while, Benjamin stepped out of the shop fluffing up his new haircut before he climbed into the car.
"Ah, my head feels so much ligh'er!"

"Aww, I'm going to miss your shaggy mop" Ember said teasingly before she started the car. She drove down the street before she came to a stop outside the old pub. "Well, this is it" Ember said happily as they arrived at the pub.

After hearing another car pull up, Samm looked to the performers. He simply said, "Piano Man.", and they nodded. They obviously knew what this had entailed. Before he started performing the song, however, he cleared the microphone, and said, "Alright - next song up is a favorite of mine. Billy Joel, Piano Man. Before I perform, any requests for afterwards? I can sing, too - not just piano.". He waited. Her heard a couple "John Lennon, Imagine", and one "The Piña Colada Song". Samm nodded, and said, "Alright. After this one, Imagine, then The Piña Colada Song. "

Austin and Benjamin had just walked in as Samm started singing. It was louder than either were used to and Benjamin couldn't help but cringe. "Louder than the pub Ember and I wen' ta for food!" He stated with all the people talking.
"Definitely louder than my clocktower!"

"It's a village pub. There's little to no chance of it ever being quiet" Ember said with a laugh before she managed to find them a table. By some miracle, she managed to find them the only booth that hadn't been taken. Ember took a seat, and pulled out a Twisp.

Benjamin slid into the booth next to Ember, boxing her in between his body and the wall while Austin slid into the other side of the booth. Almost immediately, a waitress came over in the most sluttiest outfit possible and both young men kept their eyes focused on the table until she asked them what they wanted to drink. Austin requested Guinness and Benjamin had requested something similar to the beer down in Australia. The second she was gone, Benjamin breathed out a sigh of relief and spoke in a soft voice loud enough for only his friends. "My American friend was better covered than tha' youn' lass."
"I thought her cleavage would swallow my soul!" Austin conceded, obviously terrified of a woman's body. He had a right to be. He was more like Haemon than either Benjamin or Ember realized. Haemon had been a virgin since he was a child. He never went into a brothel, never laid eyes on a woman's body when it was exposed, never even had sex until he got married. Austin was the same way and it showed with how red his face was at that moment.

"Your American friend" Ember asked curiously. She hadn't met any of Benjamin's friends back at America, so she had no idea what they were like. She noticed Austin's discomfort, and made a note to go change their waitress later.

"She came down to Australia when I was eighteen." Benjamin said with a nod. "She lef' after Lucien's betrayal. She was actually my partner for the duration of her stay and was there when I pu' an end ta my Mentor. Her name's Mara and I haven' seen her since she lef' Australia."

(Mara is GhostFaceKiller's character and in a different timeline with Benjamin than this one ^_^)

Samm was at a good halfway point of the song at the moment, noticing the three lucky people to get that last booth. He glimpsed at them for a second, noting the waitress, still singing,
"...Now Paul is a real estate novelist,
Who never had time for a wife -
And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life,

And the waitress is practicing politics,
As the businessmen slowly get stoned -
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness,
But it's better than drinkin' alone..."
He continued on with singing, going into full swing, focusing entirely on the lyrics and the song. He had it memorized entirely, as made obvious by the lack of sheets above the keys.

"Ahh, ok. Excuse me for a moment, I need to go speak with the bartender." Ember crawled under the table, and slithered out from beneath it. She headed over to the bar, and spoke with the barman before pointing to the waitress. She bought a glass of Malibu rum, neat, and made her way to the table. Slithering under the booth, and emerging at her seat. "Waiter should be here in a few." She watched happily as their old waitress delivered the shot that Ember had ordered for the musician.

Benjamin had stood up so she could take her seat back before he sat down again. Austin, however, wasn't paying attention. Poor guy looked too tired to notice anything. He shook his head for a moment and ran a hand through his hair before he leaned back against the booth and closed his eyes. Almost at once, a phantom pain shot into his side and he flinched, now wide awake with a hand pressed firmly to his side. He breathed out slowly and straightened himself up.

"Shit, I forgot we were going to do some training today. Austin, do you mind if we start tomorrow morning? Actually, we can start whenever you want." Ember took a sip of her rum, and tapped her glass in thought.

"Training?" Austin even sounded confused, the phantom pain forgotten. Benjamin couldn't help but chuckle as the waiter brought over their drinks. Now see, he looked a lot better. Granted, he didn't have a lot to show off, but his outfit was better. He left shortly after delivering the drinks.

"Yeah, mental training to help keep Haemon and any other unsavoury ancestors at bay. Some tricks I picked up in Japan" Ember said happily before taking another sip of rum. She truly felt at home.

"Oh, right." Austin sounded not all there, but at least he was talking. Then he lowered his voice so Ember could hear while Benjamin had opened up his phone's game again. "I felt the wound where Sam had gotten stabbed with a poisoned blade." He sounded worried.

"Gawd, I remember that. Elizabeth went nuts and tried to help him as best as she could. Is it actually bleeding?" Ember looked at Benjamin, and rolled her eyes. Benjamin always seemed to be staring at some screen or other.