The Troubles of an Absentminded Wizard

BookKnight

BookKnight

Well-Known Member
The clock on the wall quietly chirped three in the morning. The sensors in the clock's inner workings warned it to keep quiet. Presumably, people were asleep at three in the morning, and therefore would be very annoyed if it rang out as loudly as it would at three in the afternoon. Nothing stirred in the apartment. The kitchen sink dripped once, the sound of the droplet hitting the short stack of plates with a plop amplified by the sheer silence.

The front door opened with a rattle and a creak. A dog trotted inside, claws clicking on the hardwood floor as it came through the entryway and made his way around the kitchen peninsula to where his bowl of water sat on the floor. He lapped noisily at the water, pushing the bowl directly into the walkway and leaving a trail of splashed water in his wake. Meanwhile, back at the front door, a figure worked his way inside with much rustling and thumps as he tried to bring in an awkward-sized box. After some muttering and finagling, he finally got the box inside and used his hip to nudge the front door shut and locked. Then he carried the box through the apartment to the far back room. Box and person disappeared inside the room. A moment later, the person reappeared and closed the door. Yawning, he crossed the hall to the other bedroom. The dog trotted after him, ducking into the bedroom just before the door closed. A moment later, the door to the first room eased open an inch. The latch hadn't fully caught, meaning the door was loose. Something nosed it fully open, and a thing made its way slowly and carefully out into the rest of the apartment.

The clock continued to tick along, heedless of the activity inside the apartment. Four in the morning. Five. The clock cheerfully chirped six in the morning at a moderate level. Sunlight drifted through the windows, brightening up the space. A tiny little dragon climbed up onto the kitchen counter, wings flailing. It turned and hissed down at the new, strange creature watching it from the floor. The unknown creature moved forward, and the dragon scrambled upward, worming its way inside the cupboard where the coffee cups resided and to safety. The dragon climbed into a coffee cup and curled up, sniffing hungrily as it waited for one of the people living in the apartment to waken and deal with this new foe. With the dragon no longer within reach, the white creature made its way to a new spot to lurk and wait for its prey.
 
The late night activity was not enough to wake the other inhabitant of the flat. Luella slept like the dead, always had, which was both a blessing and a curse in a house with 3 mischievous siblings. In more recent times it made living with a roommate a lot easier, at least it did according to her college friends who all had various tales of too loud parties on exam nights, vivacious lovers or rageing gamers to share.
As it was, the quiet sounds of the sleep deprived heading to bed went wholey unnoticed.

The first sound that managed to permeate her stupor was the incessant sound of her alarm, set as ever to 7am. Despite having nothing planned that day, Lulu was a creature of habit and so the alarm rang 6 out of 7 days a week. With a sleepy groan, a hand groped around the nightstand till it found the phone and pulled it into the cocoon of blankets. The screen illuminated bleary hazel eyes set in a face that looked almost deathly pale in the blue tinged phone light.

Seeing the time flashing on the device lulu pushed back the blankets with a sigh, blinking slightly in the bright light streaming in through the windows. A second glance at the phone in her hand had her flopping back into the pillows. An empty calender meant she could remain in bed a little longer without feeling too much like a slob.

30 minutes of phone scrolling later she was fully awake, her stomach had started to growl and her throat felt like stale toast. Slipping out of bed she padded to the door, not bothering to put on any more clothes than the oversized t-shirt she was already wearing. A nice cup of tea would be just the thing to truly get the morning started.

Stepping around the kitchen counter, lulu almost tripped over a white bundle of fluff sitting on the floor right underneath the cupboard she wanted to reach. With a sigh she nudged the creature to the side with her foot, muttering almost conversationally, "You know you're really not meant to be here. I believe you are supposed to be resting. Nosing around in a kitchen is not a good place for that."

The creature didn't pay her much attention, hopping out of the way just far enough to not get trampled and continuing to stare up at the place it's quarry had disappeared. Lulu in turn paid it no mind, picking out a bag of green tea and setting the kettle to boil. Finally she reached back into the cupboard to pull out a mug, not realizing it was the one the dragon had made it's temporary home.

It's indignant squeak made her almost drop the cup in surprise. Managing to stabilize things before a disaster happened, she set the occupied cup down on the counter and was reaching for another when the fluff ball at her feet spread wings it was not supposed to be using during its recuperation and tried to leap at the dragon with a growl.
The dragon in turn tipped over the cup in it's haste to escape, clawing it's way up Lulu's side and into her hair. The cup slid of the counter and smashed on the floor, shards flying everywhere while the instigator of this fiasco continued to try to reach its prey.

Lulu, trying to fend off the wolpertinger, balance a dragon on her head and not step in any ceramic shards at the same time immediately lost any goodwill she had started the day with and bellowed "Elk! Get out here right now!"
 
The dragon hissed and hissed and spit uselessly - it was too young to produce acid yet, thankfully - and spread its wings as it bobbed its head at the wolpertinger. Tiny nails treaded into Lulu's hair, tangling into the strands of dark hair as it tried to keep itself up on its suddenly moving perch. It growled back at the wolpertinger, suddenly very confident now that it had the upper perch. The wolpertinger bared its vampiric fangs and snapped up at the dragon. It shed a couple of mangled feathers, one of which spiraled over into the dog's water dish, and eyed Lulu's ankles speculatively.

The door at the opposite end of the apartment opened, but the first person on the scene was actually a dog. The broad, stocky, brown and white pit bull mix trotted into the kitchen and lunged forward, catching the wolpertinger by its rabbity tail and dragging it back as it tried to lung upward again. The wolpertinger squealed in anger as a big paw landed squarely on its back, but Mug knew enough to be gentle even when restraining a violent patient. He sat down, almost casually and seemed to grin up at Lulu in his doggy way, his missing ears giving his square head a boxy look.

"By all the runes in Somnium, what on earth is all this ruckus?" demanded an irritated yet still somehow silky voice. Elk strode down the hall to the kitchen and stopped, sleepily brushing his vibrant red hair out of his eyes. The white strands around his face seemed to frame his pale, sharp features and emphasize his dark eyes. His other hand tightened the belt of a robe that was most definitely not his and left the pale knees of his six-foot-one frame sticking out awkwardly. He looked at Lulu, eyes still heavy with sleep, seeming not to register the dragon on her head or the dog holding the wolpertinger.
 
With the threat of the wolpertinger taking out her ankles diminished, Lulu was able to concentrate more fully on her flatmate, who did not quite seem to grasp the situation. He looked as though he had sleep walked into the kitchen rather than do it consciously. Another time lulu may have had more sympathy, she knew the feeling well enough, but now, surrounded by ceramic shards and with a tiny dragon pulling out her hair she couldn't quite scrounge up enough empathy to care.

Instead she ground out, "I thought we agreed you would keep your projects and patients in your workroom. I would very much appreciate not being set upon early in the morning."
 
Elk looked at her blankly for a moment before looking down at Mug, and realization dawned. "Oh! Oh, yes, I had to take him out last night, but I had thought that door was closed." He clicked his tongue and patted Mug's shoulder. The dog moved aside, and Elk deftly caught the rabbit-like creature by the scruff of the neck. He used his other hand to support its rump and lifted it up. He looked at Lulu and frowned. "Are you that Nieven Oricyne Aephyra Kinkaid is sitting atop your head?" Without waiting for an answer, he bore the wolpertinger back to his workroom and set it inside, closing the door securely this time. He stood there for a moment, frowning, lost in thought.

The dragon, for its part, had now become thoroughly tangled in her hair but didn't seem to mind too much.

Mug yawned and sniffed at the ceramic debris as well as the feather in his water bowl.
 
"Oh no, I would never have noticed." Lulu muttered sarcastically. Glaring at Elks retreating back. Inconsiderate git. At least he was taking the feral little thing away from making more chaos. She usually had no problem with animals. The dragon, whatever terrible name Elk called it, was cute most of the time and Mug was an angel among dogs despite what his appearance might indicate at first glance. But that pretty little patient was a menace and certainly not meant to be inside a house. She certainly couldn't wait for it to be well enough to leave, although she worried what Elk would bring home next.

When Elk took his sweet time coming back from his workroom, Lulu rolled her eyes and started trying to extricate the terribly misnomered dragon from her hair. He had probably gone right back to bed.

It became quickly apparent that not seeing what she was doing, coupled with the dragon's squirming would make freeing herself impossible. She couldn't move to a mirror or anything either without danger of slicing open both her feet. A danger Mugs nose was close to experiencing too. Lulu tried to shoo him away from the shards, her movement making the dragon cling even more tightly.

Wincing at the increased pull on her scalp, Lulu once again called out, though not as loudly as before. "I could do with a little help."
 
"Hmm?" Elk turned toward her, pulled from his thoughts. "Oh, yes, you do seem encumbered." Smiling, completely ignorant of the fact that it was his fault that she needed help, Elk walked over to stand next to Mug. He leaned over and waved a hand over the broken shards, muttering a few vague sounds. The shards slithered back together, retracing their trajectory from when they scattered back to a solid cup laying on the floor. He picked it up and put it on the counter. "How you can drink that stuff is beyond me," he stated, wrinkling his nose at the green tea. "Nieven Oricyne Aephyra Kinkaid, you are not supposed to be there. Come."

The tiny dragon nipped at Elk's fingers as he nimbly helped free it from Lulu's hair. Once it was free - taking only three or four strands of hair with it, it settled down in Elk's hand with a soft grumbling noise.

"I think she has grown a little. What do you think?" Elk asked, proudly holding the dragon up to show Lulu. The day before, he called the dragon a him.

Mug sat patiently next to his water dish, waiting for his master to realize he needed it cleaned out. Some breakfast would be nice, too, if it wasn't too much trouble.
 
Lulu rolled her eyes. How could anyone be so oblivious? Nevertheless, she held still as Elk worked to get dragon claws and scales and wings out of her hair. She hissed in pain involuntarily as several hairs parted contact with her scalp, but overall was rather surprised at how gentle Elk managed to be. She turned a little to thank him, only to find the dragon almost shoved back in her face.

"I certainly hope not." she retorted, though not with any real malice in her voice. "If that thing gets any bigger you wont be able to hide it anymore. You do know the landlady is stopping by next week to check how I have settled in?"
Personally, Lulu was pretty sure the woman just wanted a chance to snoop around, but hadn't been able to think of an excuse fast enough before the little old lady had all but invited herself over. Now she just had to hope that Elk managed to keep himself and whatever else he had going on in check for that afternoon.

Turning back to her tea, she stooped to pick up the miraculously repaired cup from the floor. After a cursory inspection, she resolutely placed it back in the cupboard and picked out a new one.
 
Elk heaved a sigh and shook his head. "She always was a nosy sort," he grumbled. He moved toward the living room and set the dragon on the back of the couch, letting it run free. "I shall ensure that everything is contained. Perhaps even take Mug out for a walk. Oh, yes, Mug, you need water."

He returned to the kitchen, scooped up the water dish, and set the feather aside so he could clean and refill the dish, his movements quick and efficient. Once he had the water dish returned to its original spot, he picked up the feather and turned it around in his fingers. "I had an idea this morning," he said, pointing the feather at Lulu. "I think it might be possible to use the shed feathers of a wolpertinger to create a revitalizing powder! Quite nifty, don't you think?" He looked for a pocket to put his feather in, realized he didn't have one, and stuck the feather in his mess of a braid. "Oh, I have something for you."

Mug watched Elk walk back toward his bedroom and gave an indignant gruff.

"Yes, yes, Mug, I'll feed you in just a moment," Elk reassured him. A moment later, he returned with an envelope which he handed to Lulu. "I think I may be a bit short for the utilities, but the rent is all there." He finally turned to feeding Mug his breakfast, giving the dog a pat on his broad, freckled chest.

The rent was not due for another two weeks.
 
"That might be good." Lulu agreed. Mug was the best behaved by far out of Elks menagerie, but she really didnt want him to have his 5 minutes of doggy crazy right when the landlady was sitting on their couch. She had only just found this place, and despite its eccentricities she quite liked it. Finding a new place would be such a pain, so she would rather not get thrown out.

She moved aside to let Elk fill Mugs water dish, moving back into the space once he was gone to pour the boiling water over her tea. Her movement around him had the air of practice and habit, someone used to sharing a small space for differential purposes. She stayed focussed on her tea, not really sure what she was supposed to say to his talk about feathers and powders. She didnt understand any of the stuff and knew that he knew that. Hopefully, just being there to listen would be enough.

The steam wafting from the cup started to smell faintly of the leaves and she took a deep savouring breath. It wwould never be as good as any tea her mother made, but it was close enough.

When Elk mentioned giving her something, she watched him curiously over the rim of her teacup as he went to get it. Had he stolen one of her hair ties again? Even in the two weeks she had been here, he had managed to nab at least 3 at some point or other. Lulu didn't really mind. Stealing them back was easy, as he tended to leave them lying around almost as much as she did.

When he returned with an envelope, she was rather confused. His explanation didn't really help either. Rent? She had assumed that the flat was in his name and thus all payments would go through him as well. Wasn't she just a subtennant? Did he just want her to give the landlady the rent when she came over next week?
"Riiight." She said hesitantly, placing the envelope on the counter slowly, still looking visibly confused.
 
Elk picked up Mug's food dish, which set off a round of butt-wiggles in the tailless dog, and started scooping food from the bag tucked under one of the counters. Seeing Lulu's expression, he smiled in amusement and explained, "While I am a highly organized person, certain details tend to slip my mind. I find it best to entrust the rent to someone else, if only to keep me from accidentally spending the rent money. You can pay it yourself, or you can remind me on the correct day and I can pay it. Whatever works to keep the lights on, am I right?" He chuckled throatily and gave Mug a fond pat. "Any plans for today?"
 
Highly organised? Lulu had to supress a snort of laughter, raising her teacup to cover her lips. She didn't want to insult him, but Elk describing himself as any form of organised was slightly hilarious. Perhaps he was in other aspects, but from what she had seen around the flat she could not agree with the sentiment, at least not how she understood the term.

"Oh, uh sure." She didn't mind hoarding money for the month. There was a drawer in her desk she reserved for just that kind of purpose. So far it contained her rental contract, a few documents from college and a lot of dust.

"Not really. I need to check my bike. She didn't sound too good yesterday. If I get her fixed maybe another run to the job agency." She shrugged with a sigh. Job hunting was almost as much of a pain as appartment hunting had been. She was staying afloat so far with odd fix jobs and the meagre reserves she had accumulated through college, but if she didn't find something in her actual field soon, she would have to go back to the bar she had worked at through college. It was a nice place, but not really the thing she wanted to be doing the rest of her life and it screwed with her sleep schedule, making job hunting harder.

In an attempt to distract herself from these bleak thoughts, she asked, "What about you?"
 
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"Hmm." Elk leaned against the counter and played with his braid, swinging the end around thoughtfully. He paused and looked down at himself. "I suppose I should begin my day by getting dressed," he said cheerfully. "After that, a hearty breakfast. Are you making breakfast? Or shall I make breakfast for us both? I do a very decent pancake."

He continued without waiting for a response to his breakfast comments, swinging the end of his braid around in time to his thoughts. "That wolpertinger needs his claws trimmed, so I'll need to take care of that early so I'll have plenty of time to deal with the bleeding. Its wing is coming along nicely! I am quite pleased there. Hmm, then, after that, I have a couple of orders I need to fill for potions and one tincture. That should only take me a couple of hours. Oh, and Mug will need a walk. More than one, of course."

He paused again, holding the end of his braid so the loose hairs at the end inadvertently arched over his mouth, giving him a mustache as he looked at Lulu thoughtfully. "How has the job search been going? The agency is treating you well?"
 
Lulu smiled as Elk chattered on. Usually people who talked a little too much got on her nerves, and give it a few more months or weeks that might be the case here too, but for now she quite welcomed it. Her old room mate in the college dorms had practically been a recluse; this was a nice change, even if she didn't understand half of what he was saying.

At his question, she rolled her eyes and placed the cup back on the counter, readying her hands for the gesticulation that was necessary to properly convey her feelings on the matter.
"Its been terrible! Half the time I'm underqualified, the other I'm overqualified and that is with the same agent and practically the same three job listings. I don't know what the heck they are doing in their systems, but how is that supposed to be possible?" She didn't even pause to take a breath, let along let Elk get a word in edgewise. "Its like they don't even want me to get a job, despite me annoying them for over two months by now. I swear the only thing those people do is drink coffee and gossip about how unmotivated and uncooperative their assigned clients are. I have been busting my ass off to get a job, but has anyone noticed? Of course not. My agent doesn't even know my name and I doubt any companies out there have heard of me from him."

Lulu took a deap breath through her nose, closed her eyes for a second and composed herself. When her eyes opened again they were more clear than during her tirade. "Sorry, I'm just a little frustrated. College always told us there were no end of openings for us when we graduate." She shrugged, "Just another thing where school doesn't prepare you for the real world."
 
Elk listened patiently while playing with the end of his hair still. He nodded occasionally to show he was listening but didn't even try to offer any opinions until she finished. It seemed like she needed this bit of a rant, and he was happy to give her the floor. Their situations were just about incomparable, but he understood the worry of finding a job, any job, let alone a decent job, and for him, especially, word of mouth was basically his entire marketing strategy. Having one of the key people not even know the name of the person they were supposed to be helping hurt just hearing about.

"I'll make the pancakes," he commented when she finished. "Any day is made infinitely better after a good breakfast, and who doesn't like pancakes?" He smiled and dropped his hair finally so he could bustle about the kitchen and start putting together the necessary items. "It is not much consolidation, but at least you have a place to stay and no reason to worry about rent! Jobs taken from desperation never end up working out well."

Mug wandered over to Lulu and sifted so he could sit directly on her foot. He leaned against her leg and looked up at her, forehead wrinkled worriedly. He didn't like when the people were worried. Worried people were not good in his doggy world, but worries were always better with a bit of attention, weren't they? At least, that's what always made his worries go away.
 
Lulu wasn't really a breakfast person, but right now pancakes sounded amazing! She moved out of the way to let Elk work, slouching on on of the counter stools to watch him.

"I know, but the desperation is mounting as my bank account empties." She reached down to scratch Mugs flat head in thanks. He really was a good boy. If only her problems would go away as quickly as his did when he got a good belly rub.

Straightening back up, she asked, half in jest, "You magical people," she wiggled her fingers while saying that, "don't happen to need a mechanical engineer anywhere do you?" A few more weeks with the incapables at the agency and she would get just about frustrated and desperate enough to go looking for jobs that brushed against the line of the law.
 
Mug groaned in appreciation and rested against Lulu, enjoying the attention and feeling like he was doing something important.

Elk chuckled as he started tossing the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl without measuring. He knew the mixture by feel and didn't see the need to add more dishes to the sink. "Oh, we magical people," he grinned as he said it, amused by her wording, "could most likely use such an engineer as yourself, but you'd have to keep your head down a lot more, not only from the authorities but also from the magical folk. Many of them have their own prejudices and have this idea that only fellow magical folk should be allowed to handle magic folk problems. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it is what it is."

The wet ingredients came next, and he used a whisk to enthusiastically beat it all together. It took him a moment to locate the correct pan as it had been a while since he'd made pancakes, but in no time at all, he had the first pancakes cooking away in a puddle of butter. He hummed happily as he babysat his pancakes, enjoying himself as he made a healthy stack of them and piled them on a plate as he went.

The little dragon climbed up on one of the barstools next to Lulu and studied her suspiciously. His wings fluttered thoughtfully.
 
Mugs happy whuffles made Lulu grin. There really was nothing like a puppy to raise ones spirits.

She only hummed in agreement to Elks answer. It hadn't been a truly serious question anyway. She wasn't so sure she wanted to get involved with all the magic hoohah that existed out there. Things like the little dragon now eyeing her on the chair next to her were cute enough and being able to fix smashed tea cups was rather nice, but there was so much out there she really didn't want to mess with. The wolpertinger was probably just the tip of the proverbial iceberg and she hadn't much enjoyed that encounter already.

As the pancakes started to mount on Elks plate, Lulu stayed companionably silent, eventually getting up to get 2 more plates, cuttlery and maple syrup from the cupboards and setting them out on the counter. All the while she felt rather watched by the little green dragon, perched on his stool like a pile of treasure. Was she imagining it, or was it actively watching her move around the room? Just in case, she sat back down on a chair one further away from the one the dragon was occupying.
 
Elk finished making an excessive amount of pancakes and set the plate down on the kitchen peninsula and slid into one of the other stools. "Oh, maple syrup, what a lovely pairing! Oh, I forgot my drink." He got up and fetched himself a glass of orange juice. He smiled and saluted Lulu with his fork. "To a healthy breakfast and a productive day!"

Mug yawned and wandered off to lay in the living room until someone decided to take him for a walk outside. He didn't mind waiting for a while. The little green dragon, meanwhile, climbed up onto the counter and scampered closer to Lulu and Elk, eyes on their pancake piles. It was hunting pancakes! Elk cut a small piece off his own pancake, set it under a ceramic cup, and pushed it out onto the counter. The little dragon scrambled forward and started hunting the cup. Tiny claws scratched along the surface and chased it around in a circle as it tried to figure out how to get under the cup. It took a while, but eventually, it managed to tip the cup over and attacked the pancake with a vengeance.

Elk stood and stretched. "I'm off to shower and change. Lulu, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you pick up some bacon from the store for me?"
 
"Can't say no to that." Lulu popped the first bite of pancake in her mouth and hummed in happy appreaciation. They were so good! Perhaps she should have breakfast more often.

She ate mostly in silence, entertained enough by the antics of the little dragon. It was like watching a very small cat with one of those puzzle toys, only the added wings made the little thing both more graceful and so much more clumsy, somehow simultaneously. Lulu almost choked on a bite of pancake when it almost flipped right of the table at some point, it just looked so hilariously confused.

Elk got up just as she was finishing off the last pancake. At his question, she swallowed quickly and nodded.
"Sure." Lulu shrugged, "I'll get it on the way back from the agency, assuming my bike is fixed by then."
As he moved back towards his room, she started stacking the plates. The least she could do in exchange for breakfast was do the dishes. It wasn't like she had anything pressing to do. Humming tonelessly to herself, she got to work cleaning up, realising as she did so that Elk had managed to forget his dragon.
 
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