[OPEN] London at night

Heng watched the child attentively, though his hand was now resting on his the staff of his Ji.

"How does the machine know when someone has passed it?" he asked just as the child yelled "Catch!" and flung a card at him.

He blinked, and reached out with his free hand, snatching it from the air. Well, it seems that his quick reflexes remained the same throughout his two thousand ish years of being dead.

"Thank you," he said flatly, turning it over in his hand to look at it. "I just... put it over the yellow circle?" he asked as he tentatively put it on, on the wrong side.

Why must this be so difficult.

The Hunter wondered what was taking so long. The child on the other side of the gates looked like he was experiencing second-hand embarrassment from how long it was taking the asian man to get through, and Stanley himself had taken to turning his card this way and that while waiting. Well, at least up till now.

The machine beeped in the negatory when Heng failed to get past the gate, and Stanley sighed. He muttered a small 'excuse me', stepping aside so Heng could see him. Reaching out, he pushed the card back on the circle while it was still in Heng's grip and held it there for a moment longer.

With a satisfactory beep, the gate opened to admit the Guardian. Pulling his hand away, Stanley motioned to the gate with one hand,

"After you,sir." he smiled behind his mask before resuming his position behind Heng, "It wouldn't do to keep the crowd waiting..."

The man was cautious. Not that Stanley could blame him for acting he way he does. Stanley WAS alone, and there was really no way of telling whose side he was on without outright asking. He eyed the long weapon on the asian man's person, his sneer hidden by his mask.

If he had to guess, the duo before him were Apprentices. It was rare to see children as Hunters, and if there was one, that kid had to be one sick sonovagun. Heng though... He was a man who had seen much, and if his stance was any indication, he stood on the battlefield far too many times to count.

Just like 'that thing'.

Stanley was brought back to reality when he looked down at his hands, at his Clam card. Oh right, he was gonna join them on their joyride. Holding the card to the circle, he waited for it to beep before tucking it away and striding after the threadless duo.

His cane tapped rhythmically to his steps as Stanley pat his inner breast pocket to make sure his card didn't slip out, then pat his side, over a holster under his coat where his spade was. To anyone who didn't know him any better, Stanley may well be looking for his wallet.

With a satisfied hum, the englishman trailed after the two. Perhaps he could open up a conversation...? He didn't quite feel like it, but if it meant he could confirm a few things, perhaps he should...

"Excuse me!" He called out a little louder to the two, "Threadless!" he'd caught up to Heng and Walter relatively quickly and paused to catch his breath (even if he didn't need to), "Off on a reap order, are you?" he asked amiably, slipping his free hand into his pocket, "You don't suppose I can join you, do you? I've... lost my friend a few stations back."

It was half a lie. He lost Penelope several times while taking buses here and there, much to the smaller Hunter's annoyance and the event had happened quite some time back, not that Heng and Walter needed to know that, "She said she was heading back and I thought I'd stick around a bit longer... So what say you?" he looked at both Heng and Walter, drumming his fingers lightly on his cane, "Safety in numbers, as they say..."

Heng frowned briefly at the child when he agreed to the stranger's request. With a sigh, the looked back over at the other Threadless man.

"Safety? Are there dangers here?" Heng asked, scanning the crowd again. It seems that the stranger was alone. He had a bad feeling. Always trust your bad feelings.

Heng kept his hand placed on the younger Apprentice's back, his other shifting to a more easy to draw position away from his Ji.

'Do not approach Hunters', was the rule he had to obey. Unless you need to protect yourself. Heng hoped that it wouldn't come to that. Not all Hunters were inherently violent. He took a breath. Since the Child had already invited the stranger to join them, he had no choice but to agree as well. Let's see where this takes them.

"You are leaving your friend further behind?" he asked, gesturing to the crowds with a jut of his chin. "If that is fine, I am fine with you coming with us as well," he said.

True, Edgware Road was on the district line, but Silver Street was not. In fact it was an overground stop almost an hour away so whatever Clifford was he was not someone who went much outside the inner zone of the city. Whatever you are it's definitely not a pathfinder Walter concluded.

“Clifford”'s sneeze mad Walter jump. “Bless you.” He said purely on autopilot, though the man didn't appear to notice, checking his phone.

Nodding towards the Northboud Bakerloo platform he moved backwards to make Heng come along with him. “We'll have to get moving now if we want to catch the next one it's due in two minutes.” Walter was still hungry and he could easily continue his little get-to-know-you game on the tube.