pawnstorm | [open] Bad News Express

Who: William Twining and You
When: 8/23 - 9/15
Where: Grantebrycge, Gammon
What: The rejection letter delivery job
Rating: PG-13 for the destruction of dreams

Shooting the messenger part one
Marion Farnswatter was not happy to receive her rejection letter. Or really any of her rejection letters for that matter. This one, the fourth, seemed to be the last straw and she just steps up to either William or his unfortunate companion and delivers a hard slap to their face, face red and on the verge of tears.

She then dramatically turns and sweeps up the staircase of her very elaborately decorated home, leaving an embarrassed servantry behind. Well then...

Shooting the messenger part two
The two of you are hiding behind one of the many hedges dotting the garden of the Hodge family, hoping to avoid your would be destroyer.

Occasionally you hear the footsteps of the man after you, Theodoris Sr, the grandfather of your current rejection letter recipient. Turns out the recipient, little Theodoris Jr, is Theodoris Sr's favorite grandchild, the apple of his eye and heir to the family fortune. The Hodge family have all gone to Pigeonsblood, every last one of them. And all of them have been exceptionally talented mages who have done credit to the school. But Pigeonsblood would spit on everything the Hodge family has done for them over the years and would reject Junior because he supposedly has a weak mana pool? A likely story!

And a bunch of other nonsense was blathered at you before the family head decided to seek vengeance against you. And he is rather powerful for an eighty year old man it seems, his magic rather potent. You've had no choice but to run and seek shelter. So what will you do? Fight or escape?

Wildcard
Have your own idea for deliveries gone wrong? Or right? Maybe it's not an angry recipient, but a disobedient micropig at work. Or an unfortunate letter mix up. Or maybe you want to unwind with William after a hard day's work. Either way, I am open to everything. I am also okay with both prose and action tags, so feel free to use whichever suits you best.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Court--[ What the hell? William is burning so brightly by the arm that it takes Takumi a second to realize where the heat and smoke is coming from. He's dumbstruck, but follows after him out of instinct. It's fight or flight and when it comes to lightning, it's definitely flight. ]

H-Hey, stop flailing around!

[ Because it's hard for Takumi to help put out the fire, too. A couple of beatings should be good, but with them running, the flame only swallows up the other man's arm. With what mana he has he tries to cast a water spell...

Except it just drenches both of them. At least the fire is out? The exit is also right in front of them. The gods have answered their prayers. ]

[William shudders a moment when the water hits him, but at least the fire is out. Granted, now uniform is soaked through and it's heavy as hell. Too many damn layers it seems. This is one of the many reasons he never bought a commission back home.

But the they had to keep going and just as they reach the exit though, they hear a cry. The old man is readying another spell. How in the hell does he even have the mana?]

One final burst then!

[William is not waiting to see what the hell that spell is and he's going to put what little stamina he has left into action.]

[ Takumi doesn't dare look back, either. Running like the wind alongside, okay more like tailing along, they make it out of the mage's estate. Quickly, Takumi pulls William to the side in case the spell actually fires.

... It does.

It looks like a large blaze beam, hotter than the sun, that would put Goku to shame. They barely evaded that with tails practically between their legs. Takumi has been holding his breath the whole time before he turns to see the house across the street has been destroyed.

Another yelling old man emerges, provoked by Theodoris. Elder fight ensues. ]

Hey, Thanks for earlier... I wanted to mention that before we somehow die here--actually, we can slip away, right?

[ Let's do that. ]

[It's been a while since William saw a huge magical blast like that. Back home demons did that all the time. But seeing a human do it was stupefying. And it was filling him with envy. Damn he hoped that he could do that when he ranked up. Assuming he was lucky enough.

When the other man came in though, William couldn't help but sigh in relief. Maybe this man was an old rival, a bitter neighbor or some local passerby, but whatever he was, he was distracting their would be murderer from his grim task.]

There is no need. Whatever happens, it has been an honor and a privilege. But yes, let us flee. Quickly.

[With as much stealth and dignity as a mouse.]

[ He gives him a curt nod before they walk away nonchalantly, even casually, from the scene that would only be expected from Holywood movies. Takumi is still nervous at the old men may turn on them, since they were referenced in the screams of battle. Despite that, they're not all important in their battle.

The piglets that have long abandoned them float over to reunite. They're practically clinging onto their heads now. There's a sigh... ]

Are you planning to keep delivering these letters, erm--what is your name again? I guess we never got the chance to introduce ourselves.

[ Despite how they seem to have made some kind of death pact. ]

[William reached up to pet the piglet, who was shivering a little. That'll do pig, that'll do. The crazy old man is otherwise occupied, so there is nothing to fear for any of them. Though he suspects the piglets were in no danger.]

Oh my name is William Twining. I suppose we should have exchanged names at the start of this venture.

[But things had happened and blood had been shed. Well not really, but nearly.]

And I think I will at least finish off what deliveries I have left. But otherwise...

[He shrugged. The nobility here were so different and cutthroat in a different way from what he was used to. Back home they just shunned you and ruined all your social prospects if they disliked you enough. They didn't try to kill you.]

I'm Takumi. It's been nice to... Escape crazy mage families with you, William. Hopefully, the next time we cross paths, we won't be in as much of a dangerous situation.

[ Shoulders heavy, he stretches a bit to get himself up to speed. Despite all his whining, he seems to bounce back rather quickly. He can't say he has ever dealt with royalty like this--no, he can. The Nohrian Royal family once was out to get him.

He checks his bag and it seems like he still has a good sized batch here. ]

I'm with you there. Despite all of that, it wouldn't feel right to leave the job like this anyway.

[ Plus, they don't probably won't get paid-- ]

Maybe we should slip the letters under their door.

[ He's exhausted though. ]

Nothing is more dangerous than the nobility, so I think as long as we avoid dealing with them, it should be smooth sailing, whatever the adventure is.

[Granted, William was nobility back in his own world, but that just meant he was an authority on the subject. No one was as bloody minded as the rich.

His own bag was lighter fortunately, but not by much.]

But yes, slipping it under the door sounds like a better plan. I had thought that a personal touch might be better in such circumstances but...

[Not if it meant certain death. And honestly, William only had so much patience for such comforting. Maybe because his natural talent, wealth and drive had always opened similar doors with ease. Or maybe he was just running low on sympathy.

But either way, personal deliveries were out it seemed.]

So let us go and deliver the rest of these with as much stealth as possible, alright?

[ Takumi ultimately thinks William is right... With power may come corruption. He doesn't add more to it, but sifts through his letters to see which is the closest house. It's not too far away, so it looks like he can at least get through these quickly and with ease--it's true. A personal touch makes letters easier to stomach, but Takumi is far from the best company.

Plus, he's exhausted having to repeat almost the same thing to people. It's starting to lose its warmth. ]

Don't put it that way. You're making it sound like we're going to hide like bandits.

[ THEY ARE NOT LOWLY!! Or scared? Or... dodging responsibility and consequences! This is just the most efficient! ]

I hardly meant to make it sound like such. We are just being discreet and not making such a moment unnecessarily dramatic.

[It sounds so much better when he puts it like that. Like they are just being thoughtful and not going out of their way to avoid making more enemies like cowards. Hah totally not.]

But let us finish off this job and hopefully end on a not so terrible note.

[Granted, achieving that wouldn't be hard. "Not be killed by a crazy old man" was a very low bar to set.]

[open] Bad News Express

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