Clownin' Around (Archibald)

Was saying you hated Little Tokyo racist? Rory wasn't even sure by this point. He felt a group of riled up people online might think so, even if it really clearly wasn't. After all, it wasn't like he was throwing fire bombs, or something! He just hated being there. As he sent his brother off to go get dinner for them (he felt his profits for the day slowly slipping away already) Rory took a seat on a bench...before promptly wandering off. Yeah, fuck waiting around for whatever Brian felt was decent enough for dinner. He'd find the kid at one of their meet-up spots later. Not worth worrying about right now. He had nothing to sell, and it was a bit too crowded to safely pickpocket. This was, officially hell. It was why he liked staying in the more urban parts of the city. Little Tokyo was FINE if you like, did actual work. But for the rest of the community who were too lazy too deep in to get actual jobs, there had to be alternatives.

With a heavy sign, Rory had decided it was time to resort to one of his more favorite scams. Pretending his was a representative of the church in Sunlake, and they needed their roof fixed. He just had to make it look official...

A bucket, perfect! He could put all sorts of phat stax in there, and nobody'd ask any questions! Now it was just a matter of finding a sucker to scam like, five bucks out of.

Little Tokyo! What a place, what a magnificent place! ... Except not really, Archibald couldn't care less about Japanese culture. Always found it to be too stuffy. Though little Tokyo did look cool, it didn't interest him, when he was a young boy his family traveled quite a lot. So he had seen many exotic places before. The young man would walk through the streets, his guitar on his back. It was normal, dull, common, same shit as always.

Until on the corner of his eye he noticed a man wearing the clothes of a priest and with a bucket. That was new, and had his interest for now.

Rory smirked a little. Oh boy, a Mark showed up in record time. Now he just had to follow up on it. "Ah, good day to you sir," Was that laying it on too thick? Eh, who cared. All that mattered was he took the chance. "Would you be interested in making a small donation to help repair the roof of our church? I'm afraid it just up and collapsed a few days ago. Any bit helps." He considered adding on something like 'But I know if we praaaaaaaaise Goddess Isla enough it'll be fixed on his own' but he was out for dolla dolla billz yo, not laughs. "Of course, we also understand if you have nothing to spare."

The performer gave the "priest" a blank stare as he told his sob story about how terrible they were having and something about their roof being fucked up. To be quite frank, Archibald was barely paying attention, he kinda of spaced out when the word donation was mentioned. But hey, maybe it was the opportunity for a good prank, the Forgotten was hardly religious so making fun of a man of god was not below him.

"Ain't tithes for that? Man, you guys definitely have it rough. 'suppose it won't hurt to give you folks some change." He chuckled and shrugged, from his coat pocket he'd pull a fake twenty bill and would throw it inside the bucket, there was thing line connecting the fake bill to a reel that was hidden inside the pocket. "Have a good day father." He tipped his cap and walked away before turning to the nearest corner where he would watch the priest from behind.

Hook, line, and sinker. "Thank you very much. In these trying times we need the generosity of the people in this fine city. It's good to know there are some honest souls in this city." Rory's voice almost cracked as he stopped himself from bursting out laughing. Yeah, he knew that was bullshit.

Rory rose a brow as Archibald turned to walk away. Who did this guy think he was, trying to con him? He knew all the tricks in the book (he had to when he couldn't have Brian around to guilt trip people after all). Rory'd pull the bill out of the bucket, and eye it for a moment, before crumpling it and tossing it over his shoulder. "Kobe." He yawned, as the bill would bounce off the side of a trash can behind him.

Quietly he peeked, from the corner, waiting for the right moment aaaaand he threw it away. What a bitch, saw right through it, at least it told him one thing, this man ain't no priest. If anything this was a fun turn of events, he was gonna prank a priest and now he got himself what's possibly a con artist... or just a smart ass. He wasn't gonna let the disrespect for his craft go unpunished. He pressed the button to have the reel pull in the fake bill and shoved it in his pocket, then he waited for 20 minutes or so. After straightening his clothes he left the corner and walked back, acting naturally.

When he passed by Rory again, he turn his head to him and gave him a big smile before looking down at the bucket. Then back at Rory with a shocked expression

"Whoa, dude! What happened?" He spoke, feigning shock and surprise. This was gonna be funny.

Rory quirked his brow again. "Well, one of the other members of the church is a reformed Con-man you see, and he stopped by. Informed me the bill you left was, sadly, fake." Again, he had to stop himself from saying something like 'Jesus says you're a shit'. Rory would shrug. "As such, I'd appreciate if you moved on. This is a trying time for the church, and people like you who have no respect are making things harder."

"Though I'm sure a prankster such as yourself was watching from nearby. So I just threw it away. Suspiciously, it's not where I left it. You wouldn't be trying to pawn it off on me again, would you?" Rory held back a smirk. Talking like this was lame, but it'd be interesting to see what this guy did. Yeah, the moment the bill had vanished, Rory'd caught on to exactly what was going on.

Archibald wore a smile on his face that hid his teeth, he was gritting them in anger. This dude was good and called the Jester out on his bullshit, fuck this was frustrating. The performer usually comes out on top when it comes to fooling people but he found someone who could out maneuver him. He'd just have to play this game harder than usual, getting out of this one would be a huge bitch since he underestimated the green haired fuck though.

"Well, you got me. I'm a sinner." He spoke raising his hands up in the air while diverting his face as if he was in shame, though he'd eye the "priest" a couple times while hiding his eyes with his cap's visor. "So, what do i gotta do to atone? I don't wanna go to hell or purgatory, y'know?"

He added an awkward laugh at the end. Not gonna attempt anything for now, just talk to this dude until there an opening or something. Everyone cracks at some point and he ain't letting himself be defeated.

"...Nah, you don't gotta atone." Rory shook his head. He was winning now, it seemed. Time to go on the offensive. "It'll just break the Father's heart to know people in this town can find time to make fun of the church's situation. All we wish to do is help those less fortunate, or those in need of salvation, but ones such as yourself these days find it easier to make light of our mission..." Rory sighed. Okay, maybe this was laying it on a bit thick.

"You have not sinned, however the entire church is very disappointed in you." Was this guy for real? Or was this another part of the prank. At any rate, Rory wasn't going to drop the act as easily as he had with the OTHER one. He wanted to see where it went.

Jayyysus, this couldn't get more soppy or melodramatic... well it could if he started talking about sad orphans and how they would starve without food. Ew, just thinking about it got him disgusted. For a moment he pretended to be in deep thought, as if he was pondering on the man's lecture. His mind was just going blank but hey, it's not like the man can tell.

"I was expecting a speech about 'Divine retribution' and the dangers of today's culture." That was funny, he couldn't help but have a short laughter. "Well, since i haven't sinned, guess all is good, right? Just tell the dudes i'm sorry, maybe i'll stick around to help rebuild the roof. Man power is just as good, right?"

He waited, honestly he wasn't sure where he was taking this himself but he would keep going. Maybe if make himself look like a fool the other would drop his guard.

Ohhh shit. Was this this the new game? it was an interesting one, at anyrate. Yes, if he offered to fix the roof he'd have to SEE the roof. Clever. Very, very clever. But he wasn't going to give up. "...Well, I don't feel like giving a lecture today. Seems as though you've already had one, and it didn't stick." Rory simply stated. This prankster was running some kind of con still, he was sure, and he wouldn't rest until he knew what it was.

"If you really want to help then come tomorrow. You can help us repair the roof." And hopefully he'd never see this guy again, anyway. Or if he did he could just feign ignorance. It tended to be easier to just get rid of someone who was catching on. "I hope you enjoy manual labor, and the bible."

"Heh..." The performer began to chuckle, barely containing himself to not just burst out laughing. It was a stale mate, they would just keep going at this for god knows how long unless one dropped. That was funny. Now he had interest in this dude, whoever he was, he likely had some hella interesting stories to share. "You got it, father. I'm Archibald, local and humble artist."

He'd extend his hand for a handshake while he wore a sly grin on his face. No trick this time, though he really wished he had an electric buzzer on him right now. Maybe next time when he got his guard down.

Rory'd stare at Archibald's hand for a moment, before shaking it. "And I'm Father Zachery O'Tuttle." Ah he was but a wee lad in oirland back when the Bloody Divide happened. "They call it art, these days? My the standards must've fallen since my youthful days."

Or maybe this guy just called it art. Rory needed to figure out what game this guy was setting up for. "I take it you've actually USED a hammer and nails before, yes? Your offer is appreciated, but only so long as you have the expertise..." Rory's brow quirked.

"Oh whoa, you are kinda rude for a Priest, Zack. Hasn't even seen my art and is already judging? Damn, talk about divine punishment." He kept on grinning, like he cared for the opinions of a priest, much less a street con artist. The fuck he would know about art? He is a guy who makes his living by deceiving people. Not that Archibald particularly cared for the people who had been fooled by this dude, it's just that he had no fucking say on that. The audacity this dude had... When questioned about if he had worked with a hammer and nails before, Archibald got smug to say the least.

"Well, have you? You got some pretty smooth hands there." He stated while holding up his hands to show off the results of hard labor. Archibald himself had engaged in manual labor a few times, helping his gramps fix furniture and even had done wood work for instruments, nothing extensive but he had some basic notion. Playing instruments and some of his tricks also made sure he was always using his hands, which is where most of the cuts and stress came from.

"That's Father Zachery." Rory stated, plainly. "And at anyway, I don't think mere pranks should be considered an art." That was the biggest lie he'd told so far, really. Though, then Rory paused. "...I'm going to leave now, since you've insulted my former career as a hand model. Vanity leaves it's own disgraceful scars." Rory huffed. "You have brought nothing but pain and suffering this day." Rory turned and made to leave, ditching the priest outfit about half a block away, and picking up his brother. Yeah, he didn't think this guy was going to show up at the church, but he'd never know anyway. Really, today had just been a bust in general.

[Exit]