P.I.E - A Limey Rivalry

Part 6 - A Rational Separation

Toast and Sophia hadn't moved in ten minutes. The entire room had a silent and uncomforting atmosphere. Toast was getting tired of looking into the devoid emptiness. Though he was not scared of anything that might be down there, he was still nonetheless cheerless about having to guard it either.

Sophia, on the other hand, was fidgeting where she sat. She had gotten tired of standing and there was a table, along with three chairs, already in the room. So she decided to take advantage of that.

She was clearly frightened about the basement door being left open. Usually, whenever she went near it, she would panic and rush out of the room. She could hardly bare seeing the murky blackness behind those previously locked doors.

Ghost and Bryn returned to the room. They had decided to walk, so Ghost wouldn't get tired again and so whatever Bryn was carrying was secure within his hands.

Toast, upon noticing the relatively small box under Bryn's left arm, irritatingly said, "Is that it?"

The two men, looked at Toast confusingly. Bryn answered, "If you're referring to this," he lifted the box up, "then yes. Why?"

Toast looked at the two of them, bewildered, "If all you needed was that small box, then why did you need Ghost to go with you?" Toast had suspected them to do some heavy lifting, which would explain why Bryn would need a hand. If all he needed was something that small, why did he request Ghost to accompany him?

Bryn tittered toward Toast, "I can assure you, I did not need to get a box. You see... Toast - was it - there's actually something inside the box. That is what we need."

Bryn held the blank cardboard box in his hands. Suddenly, he turned his attention to Sophia, who was watching everything with an uneasy posture. "Sophia," he said, causing the woman in question to jump at the use of her name. "If you are feeling uneasy at all, don't feel that you have to be here. If you want to allow us to get on with everything, go ahead."

Sophia gulped, "T-thank you." She then arose and headed as quickly as she could out of the room.

As she passed the two men standing at the entrance of the room, Ghost turned his attention back to the previous issue. "Actually, Bryn, you never did tell me what was in the box," Ghost said.

Toast clenched his jaw at being ignored again. He still hadn't been told why Bryn had taken Ghost for no apparent reason.

"Oh, did I not," Bryn said innocently, "Well, good. Now, it can be a surprise."

Toast's mouth hung open at Bryn. This man was meant to be a professional, yet he had been wasting time constantly. Toast began to suspect something: why would he apparently need Ghost to help him if he only needed a small item?

Bryn placed the box down and began to open it. Once it had been opened, he began to take certain parts out and assemble them with brilliant expertise.

Ghost watched him intently. Toast pretended to cough, in order to get his partner's attention. It didn't seem to be effective, so Toast began to give off a loud "psst". Ghost rose his head to look at his partner, who called him over.

Ghost stepped over to Toast, with a puzzled look. "Yeah, Toast. What is it?" he asked to his older partner.

"I see you've gotten to first name bases with him," Toast said, looking over to Bryn, "What were you doing with him outside?"

"Nothing, really. We got out, we talked, he got the box and we went back in," he listed. Suddenly, he looked at Toast excitedly, "Hey, get this, Toast. It turns out that Bryn already knew about us."