Anthony, rather unsurprisingly, was in a pub yet again, looking to get drunk. Maybe that was a bit unwise considering everything that was going on with him, but he was not a wise man anyways, so that didn't matter. There was only one thing stopping him from fulfilling that one wish of his: he was broke. While the urge to just spend the literal last of his money on drink was pretty strong, he didn't do it. He ordered only one drink. Enough to get rid of some of his anxiety, but not enough to do anything else. That was fine.

He lingered even after having finished that one drink, for he had an idea (no matter how bad), and looked around. It took a moment for him to find what he was looking for, but after a few moments he managed to find it. He made a beeline for whatever unfortunate man or woman it was that caught his eye, here, and sat down near them.

"Heyyy," he said as soon as he made his unwanted appearance. Anthony channelled all the charm in his body, just for the sake of trying to charm himself a free drink or two from this poor stranger. "you gonna order something?"

Tobias was in Whitby a good deal these days. It was rather exhausting to keep going back and forth, but in a way, not doing so was even more exhausting. Alice was with her family and he had booked a room at an inn, because the Ward cottage was small, and he wanted to give Alice her privacy.

So here he was. Anthony probably wouldn't recognize him, for the man had been drunk when they had last met, and Tobias had his back turned to most of the noise of the pub. He was sitting at a table, with an almost finished glass of light beer, reading the Times.

He looked up when he was disturbed, and it took a moment to realize when the man looked familiar. Begging for drinks? Really? Should that man be in a pub at all? But Tobias stopped himself. Everyone had a bad day now and then. He was not a heavy drinker himself, but he had been drunk once or twice when he had overestimated his own tolerance. This guy had been upset for some reason too. He shouldn't judge.

"I was about to order again. You can join me if you like," he said, gesturing at the chair beside him.

Anthony had already sat down beside the man before he could even consent to it. He didn't recognize Tobias whatsoever — he was really just thinking about how easy this was. He had expected to have to employ more of his charm to be able to get even one drink from this guy, but seemingly not.

"Don't mind if I do," he muttered to himself, shifting a bit to get comfortable in his seat. He rest his head on his hands, looked up at the man and fluttered his eyelashes. He just wanted to get as much from this guy as possible, hence all the effort he was putting into trying to be somewhat charming. "what are you reading?"

The man seemed to act strange and Tobias wondered if he was drunk already. "The Times. Want a page? I'm done with the front matter." Just then a waitress passed by and Tobias ordered another beer and one for Anthony.

"Oh, no, but thank you," Anthony said, trying not to seem too eager once the man ordered a drink for both of them. "so very kind of you to do this for me." He took a small sip from his drink and let out a slightly exaggerated sigh, still looking at Tobias every now and then, with that same innocent look on his face.

Tobias nodded. He folded the newspaper and put it away, because he did not want to seem rude. Did this man actually remember him at all? It didn't look like it. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Tobias didn't want him to feel embarrassed. He sipped his drink. He had wanted the man to feel better than last time they met, but now he had to actually make conversation and that wasn't his strongest point - as poor Alice had found out all too soon. He was very busy drinking his beer.

Anthony wasn't sure whether his excessive attempts at trying to seduce charm this man were working, so he took it up a notch. He took another sip from his drink, and then returned to looking at Tobias and fluttering his eyelashes. "Really kind of you. You must be a very kind man."

Tobias was more confused now. "It's just a drink..." He wanted to say something like 'you're Elijah's friend after all' but he still wasn't sure if the man remembered. "I'm Tobias..." he introduced himself, as a test case.

Anthony shrugged. Of course it's 'just a drink',  but he wants more drinks, hence why he's acting like this. "I'm Anthony," he introduced himself as well. This means that he's making progress, right?

Certainly didn't remember then. All the better. They could start anew and forget the awkward event. "Nice to meet you. Are you from Whitby?" He hated small talk and hadn't felt lonely living on an isolated farm alone after Flo had died.