𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 ♛ thomas shelby

xxᴠ | ᴍɪᴄʜᴀᴇʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜsɪɴ

   "So we help our coppers meet their quota of convictions by having men stood up to be arrested."

   Cat peered over the edge of her papers to give the boy a one over. "We'll give you five quid for your trouble. How does that sound, cowboy?"

     A giddy smile grew on the boy's lips. "Yeah." He nodded eagerly.

     "Good. Write your address down for Finn on your way out." Tommy dismissed him with a wave of his hand, returning to the papers he had lowered down.

     "I can't write," the boy mumbled out.

     "That's all right, Finn can't read," said Arthur, turning his eyes back at the newspaper.

   Pursing her lips, Cat disagreed. "No, the little shit knows how to read, he just choses not to."

   "Don't worry," Arthur reassured him. "Just tell him your address and we'll send someone round."

   "If the sheriff don't run you out of town first." John added cheekily, pointing a finger at the kid.

  Thomas clapped him on the shoulder as he exited the room. "Good man."

   "Oh, I don't know, Tom. Kids these days..." Arthur trailed off once Digbeth Kid closed the door of their booth behind him.

   "They didn't fight. So they're different," Tommy replied simply, failing to stop his mind from trailing down the memories of some other, more simpler times.

   "They stay kids."

   "Like it's supposed to be," Cat added, reaching over the table to nick Tommy's lighter for her smokes. "I just hope he doesn't get hurt. He seemed like a good boy."

*:･ﾟ♛･ﾟ:*

In the kitchen of the Shelby household Polly could still hardly believe that her son sat opposite of her, there, in flesh and not as a hallucination of a hungover mind.

At first she was lost, speechless, unsure of the way she was supposed to talk to him. She was already embarrassed that he'd seen her in such a shameful edition at the door and dreaded that he would come to think of her as some common harlot.

"Run for the hills! It's the Digbeth kid!"

John and Arthur raced each other through the hallway and into the kitchen, pretending to shoot each other with their guns. Tommy and Cat followed shortly behind, engrossed into their conversation, not noticing the unusual setup in the dining room.

     "I'll give him a week, he's got a bullet wound in his shoulder," Thomas spoke to her about the new man he'd appointed for the Camden business, Billy Kitchen. She hummed in approval though her face still twisted in doubt.

     "But can he guarantee us a free pass through Black Country? Those bastards gave Curly a fright when we passed through."

     "He won't disobey his Sergeant Major's order. And it's not like I'm not paying them," Tommy scoffed slightly as they rounded the corner, almost bumping into John and Arthur, guns still in hand and frozen.

They were cut short by the scene — for once Polly looked happy, content almost, sitting opposite of a young man in worn clothes of old design who stared at the newly arrived additions in shy wonder.

It looked as if they had just sat for tea and some sandwiches, but now, the six of them stood completely silent in the Shelby kitchen, waiting for someone to break the confusion.