IDV - A Coin's Two Sides - Freddy x Norton

7- Setup

   "Isn't it strange how we only started hanging out with each other because Freddy talked to both of us?" Jose pointed out.
   "Yeah, that is strange!" Kurt said. "I think we get along great, so do we have to thank Freddy for that?"
   Jose shrugged. "I think we've talked with each other more than he's talked to us."
   "So we did all the work in this friendship..." Kurt said. "Makes sense, Freddy doesn't tell any cool adventure stories. I really like your stories Jose!"
   "Thanks. I think you're cool too." Jose spoke the truth in a rather unconvincing way.
   Freddy walked into the conversation, as per usual nowadays. "Hello."
   "Hi!" Kurt waved at the same time Jose said "Hey."
   "So are you going to give Norton that gift now?" Jose asked.
   "I already did." Freddy said.
   "Really? When?" Kurt tilted his head. "Also, what is the gift? You never said."
   "I gave it to him last night," Freddy explained. "But what the gift was is not important."
   "Why would you not tell us," Jose said. "Now we're just going to assume the worst."
   "Why the heck would you assume the worst," Freddy gave Jose a weird look. "What even is 'the worst'?"
   "We shouldn't push him Jose," Kurt put a hand on the first officer's shoulder. "The ancient wizard could have cursed him and that's why he can't tell us."
   "Oh, okay then." Jose shrugged. Freddy would have pointed out how ridiculous that theory was if it didn't shut Jose up.
   "Hey, Jose!" Kurt perked up. "Want to go stand over there and eavesdrop on Freddy?"
   "What?" Jose asked, confused but not as confused as Freddy.
   Kurt pointed. "Norton's coming here."

   The second Freddy turned to confirm that, the two already stood away to eavesdrop. There was no way Norton didn't notice, but he approached Freddy anyways.
   "...Hello." Norton said to Freddy.
   "Hi..." Freddy said back. He wasn't expecting Norton to approach him so soon.
   "So uh," Norton looked away awkwardly. "I just had a question."
   "Oh?" Freddy tilted his head. "What is it?"
   "Uh..." Norton looked back at Freddy. "What's your name?"
   Freddy blinked. Then he straightened himself and answered confidently: "Freddy Riley."
   "Okay." Norton nodded. "Uh, thanks, bye...?" He started backing away.
   Freddy didn't want to have a, what, third time telling Norton to not leave and barely having anything to say, so he just watched the prospector leave. He thought it was sort of cute how awkward Norton was being.

   Once Norton was gone, Kurt and Jose returned to Freddy's side.
   "That wasn't very good gossip material honestly," Kurt determined.
   "He didn't know your name?" Jose questioned Freddy. "You didn't tell the man your name after whatever you did to him?"
   "What do you mean, what I DID to him?" Freddy asked. "I gave him something. I didn't do anything."
   "Uh-huh." Jose shrugged. "Okay."
   Freddy scoffed and left.
   "At least this time he didn't tell us we were useless to him!" Kurt said.
   "We were so useless to him he didn't even want to bother saying bye." Jose stated.

   Freddy returned to his room. No more time for useless chatter with his... Kurt and Jose; now was the time for planning.
   Norton had approached Freddy to ask his name. Freddy totally forgot about the possibility of Norton not knowing his name, but realized it made sense, since he didn't know Norton's name...
   At least now the prospector knew. What was really important was that he felt the need to ask. Freddy figured that was a pretty good sign that Norton would talk with him in the future, or at least talk about him to friends. Wait, nobody ever hangs out with Norton... either that means it's 100% the other option, or Norton would talk to himself, or perhaps he was planning on telling everyone in his retirement home in the future about the weird lawyer who kept talking to him... err, the handsome lawyer who gave him an amazing gift.
   Or he wanted to have a proper name to write in his diary. Freddy almost forgot about that rule.
   Well, you don't have to have names or many other specifics in your diary. Freddy had been writing cryptic things about Martha and Emily during the beginning of his stay at the manor.
   Aside from all that, Freddy hoped that Norton asking his name meant he was planning to speak with him again in the future.

   Freddy still needed a plan. Should he try to strike a conversation with Norton? Or should he wait until Norton tries to speak with him? Would Norton start another conversation? Did that last interaction even count as a conversation? Is that relevant? What are you planning, Freddy?!
   The lawyer sighed. He didn't want to bring out the whiteboard after what happened last time, but his train of thought was stopping at the wrong stations. He couldn't think of any actual plans.
   Freddy looked at the whiteboard, mostly hidden from view. He sighed and decided it would be too much work to pull it out. There was no rush to get with Norton, was there? Take your time, Freddy...

   The lawyer left his room to wander. Perhaps he would see something that would spark some ideas, or maybe something else of interest. Not everything had to be about Norton.
   After taking a quick glance at everyone in the main area, Freddy noticed multiple interesting things that were all linked together: Norton and Kreacher staring at some tiny pieces of gold on the ground.
   Freddy immediately got within radius of the gold. Nobody else noticed the gold since it was tiny, and only money grabbers notice these things.
   Well, the seer did notice, but simply stared at the gold specks ominously before shaking his head and looking away. Nobody noticed that, however.

   As soon as Kreacher began to step towards the bits of gold, someone nobody expected arrived.
   "What a nice... area to walk in." The Bloody Queen, one of the hunters, sighed. "I love walking right here..."
   Everyone's immediate reaction was to step back. This undead queen was one of the most difficult hunters to escape from, and nobody wanted to get cut by her broken mirror's glass.
   Unfortunately, the random area she wanted to walk in was right along the gold! No money grabbers could get any, unless they wanted to risk getting tripped over by the queen.

   "What is she doing here...?!" The Mechanic, Tracy, whispered.
   "I have no idea!" Emma whispered back.
   The Bloody Queen continued to walk right over the gold. "I think I will keep walking here until I go to bed."
   Those words caused many survivors to leave. Nobody wanted to deal with the anxiety of having a hunter nearby until night came around.
   There was no point for the money grabbers to stick around either, since the time to strike would be at night. So Freddy left.

   Plans? Oh, Freddy has plans now alright. Plans to go get some gold tonight.

   When the sun had finally set, the Bloody Queen sighed. "That was the most ridiculous task I've ever been given. I'll go to sleep now."
   And with that, she left.