𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮 ➪ 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱

𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹

"CHEERS FOR DISTRACTING HER, LOCKY.
took me a while to locate her remains." Flo Bones spoke as she did her job. Agnes looked down at the girl, maybe it was too early to say she didn't like Flo Bones; but it would never be too early to dislike his nickname on her mouth.

"always happy to help you out, Flo." Lockwood said in his usual, casual tone. Agnes bit the inside of her cheek, attempting to not utter a word.
"you know...there's no point in trying to run a Cold Maiden, any idiot knows that. gotta find the source or you're screwed. I'm glad you did though, blondie, one less of these bloody things." Flo smiled to the girl.

"happy to be the bait." Agnes smiled sarcastically, "just wish you were a bit earlier, you know. I mean there's no way you couldn't have heard us..." Florence stood up, holding the remains of the cold maiden in a box.
her face held out mockery, with eyebrows high and tongue poking through the cheek.
"um...who was she?" Lockwood asked seeing that if he did not interrupt an argument would've broke out between his friend and the girl he was in love with.

"Elisabeth Creevey. victorian baby farmer. single mums paid her to have their kids adopted into good homes, but she kept the cash, drowned the kids." Bonnard smiled in the story-telling while Agnes frowned. no way can she find that amusing.

"these relics have bad vibes I can charge a fortune for. pay my way for months." Flo picked one of the relics inside the wooden box up, admiring them.
"that's bloody sick..." Agnes commented, now causing Flo to look at her. "we all make our living dealing with the dead. only difference is you're caught in the cogs. slaves to a system run by the rich." Florence said in disgust.

Agnes's eyes lit up within the realization, it was always there. she just didn't want to pay attention to it.
she was inside that system for a long time, being the bystander; doing it for the fun of it. at some point, she was the rich— she was in the higher part of the pyramid. but now, she was a slave, barely getting any money.

"oh god!" Lockwood laughed, looking over at Agnes to see if she'd found the humor between Florence's truth. but she didn't, too caught up in realization.
"at least I'm free!" Florence exclaimed, throwing her bag over her shoulder.
but it was a lie.
Flo Bones was also tied up in the system.
selling bad stuff to bad rich man who whether she'd like it or not, would always be her boss.

it was her way of living, just the way it was Lockwood's or anyone's for that matter. because the rich were always into some shit, controlling the ones who worked hard so that, at the end of the day. they'd be able to put something on the table so that their children could eat.
"bullshit." Agnes muttered to Lockwood before they followed the sloppily dressed girl.

"at least we're not selling it to the worst kind of human imaginable!" Agnes boasted. "relic men are evil and relic girls—" the blonde was cut out by Flo.
"girl. I'm the only one. my own boss." Florence corrected.

"that's nothing to be proud of." Agnes chuckled silently. Florence turned around to face the stranger, "nothing to be ashamed of neither.
look, love, this river's filled with the ghosts of men who've been murdering since this city was made. almost all the girl ghosts are their victims. the only reason these are worth anything is 'cause she was so rare."

"oh, wow, a female serial killer! whoo! aspirational. why don't you stick it on a T-shirt? Jesus, can we just go?" Agnes frowned, tired of the conversation, tired of the sickening day she had.
Lockwood stared Agnes in exhaustion as well, one of his hands on his waist as he did so. he wished that they could get along, but apparently things were going the opposite way.

"the world that made women give their babies away, that's the evil. and it never ends." Flo turned around, walking away from this unwanted conversation. Lockwood followed behind her, trying to convince her to stay and help.
"hold on, hold on, Flo! I know a buyer."
Agnes exhaled in surprise.

"it's the Foundling Museum. they'll pay more than the black market, and it's a good home. a safe one." he assured.
"and get arrested for my trouble? no, thanks." Florence shrugged, looking at the pavement in the alley.
"not if you're anonymous and I'm the intermediary." Flo smiled at his words.

Agnes looked away in disbelief, shaking her head. she brought her red Marlboro packet out of her jacket's pocket and a lighter out of her back one from her baggy jeans.
"what a nice boy you are, Locky." Flo smiled.
Agnes coughed out loud, having a coughing fit from the smoke. or perhaps the nickname again.

"you okay back there, Ness?" Lockwood turned his neck.
"I'm fine!" she let out another cough, before composing herself and taking another drag.

"it helps to be born minted, of course." Florence continued.
"and in return, you tell us what you know about Danny Clough." Lockwood proposed.
Florence's eyes lit up, looking at Locky with worry in her eyes, "what's happened to Danny?"

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Florence had taken her friend and his company to a diner close to the banks of the Thames.
Agnes was slumped down to a chair, her eyes on the table as she considered having a second fag.
it wasn't always she could light up a cigarette in a closed space. at 35 Portland Row it was a rule that she'd have to smoke outside and wait five to ten minutes before coming back into the house (she did break said  rule stated by George a few times without getting caught, but she'd never tell a soul.)
Lockwood was by her side, sliding her a plate of toast with freshly added butter he put for her.
Agnes glanced at him, he smiled politely at her, proud of his job serving her.

Flo had been watching them over the counter, she smiled a bit seeing the two partners who acted like an old married couple. it was good seeing her best friend  loving someone.
"poor Cloughy. he asked me out once. been drinking, obviously." Florence stated once she walked to their table, coffee with milk in hand.

"not obviously!" Lockwood leaned closer to the table.
"yes, obviously. he was always drinking. that's how they would have got to him." Flo looked to the window.
"can I smoke in here?" Agnes gave in to her vice, after all it had been bothering her now.

"um...sure, blondie. go ahead." Flo smirked.
Agnes brought a cigarette to her lips but the bartender called her out. "oi! miss! you can't smoke in here, see the sign?"
Florence held a cackle snorting in the process as she saw Agnes's embarrassed face. "sorry, sir. she wasn't gonna light it anyways!" Lockwood took out the stick out of the blonde's mouth, securing it in his pocket.

"I thought you'd said you'd regulate." the boy looked over to her with seriousness.
"I am!"
"how many have you smoked today?" Lockwood stared her with an eyebrow raised.
"that's my third. and like I said, I am regulating. if it was three months ago I'd already have smoked a full pack." the blonde sighed in annoyance. Lockwood had already started on his picking again, over nothing.

"well what am I gonna do if you end up with lung cancer in four years, hm?" he questioned.
"in four years time I'll be almost 20, which means there's a big possibility I won't be worth as an investment to you anymore considering my sensitivity will fade." Agnes smiled with no humor.

"well, that's an if. Kipps is older than that and he's still going strong, innit?" the boy smiled back, no humor in his tight lipped smile as well.