new age mambo sun [sol] (Read 161 times)

[Hakkai]

Skaldi sighed, and scratched the back of his head with the biro pen, frowning down at the sheaf of officious-looking papers he held in his hand. For a few moments he lost the thread of his thoughts completely, and couldn't make head nor tail of them. Eventually, however, his mental gears clicked back into place again, and he immediately went to work with the pen. This was the easy stuff, after all. Damage complaints, repair bills and general demands for money. Some of them were also asking for body parts attached, but Skaldi didn't feel too worried about them. Psychotically enraged creditors were much easier to deal with than, say, an audit by the Magic Council.

He was actually pretty satisfied with how productive he had been over the last few days. After briefly panicking and resorting to using the shredder to make a dent in the pile of paperwork in his in-tray, Skaldi had somehow found the motivation and a workable pace, the combination of which meant that after two days of hard graft all that was left of his current batch of paperwork was the small pack in his hands. As it was such a warm day, the Guild Master had decided to finish his work outside in the sun. For this reason, he was currently seated on the stone steps leading up to the main entrance to the guild hall. The double oaken doors were wide open on either side of him.

He scribbled down a few more notes and signatures, and decided to set the work aside for a moment. He could use a break, and finishing the rest would take him ten minutes tops. Clamping the wad of paper between his knees, Skaldi reached out for the water bottle by his side, and took a couple of deep gulps. Goddamn, it was warm. Like any other sensible person on a day like this, Skaldi had dressed light, donning only a plain back vest over a pair of cargo shorts. The clothing left his tattooed arms bare, and they were already starting to turn slightly brown. His long mane of dirty blonde hair was loosely tied back, to keep most of the bangs out of his face. Probably not the most dignified state of dress to find a Guild Master in, but he was a Guild Master at work. Skaldi didn't much go in for extravagant attire.

Not a lot of people were out and about, he noticed. The occasional mage or visitor to the guild hall would swerve past him on their way up or down the steps, but the sweltering heat had largely managed to mute Magnolia's usually neverending hustle and bustle. Skaldi followed one or two lonesome shoppers with his eyes for a few moments, tapping the pen against his chin. Then he picked up the papers and went back to work.

Busy, busy, busy. This was his life now.

It was actually kind of comforting. He hadn't been able to put a name to it before, but he had known for a while that this was just what he had needed to start pulling him out of his funk. The responsibility, as exhausting as it could be at times, was something solid, real. Human.

[PARIS LEVESQUE]

Magnolia was always a nice town. Whether it be bustling with activity, or merely sparsely populated, it was always nice to look at, and one of the most pleasant towns to catch a breath of fresh air on a humid day. Paris was dismayed that she was here on the account of business, than actually enjoying the dusty Summer air. Sadly, this was the only alibis she could manage to escape her rapidly piling work. The duties of leading a guild - one that required of her a significantly larger amount of work than her previous - where leaving the guildmistress unbearably weary. The weight of workload burdened her features, but she was doing her best to maintain at stalwart image as she made her way to her immediate destination; Fairy Tail's guild hall.

Had it not been for her previous position, she wouldn't have been acquainted with the former area that, without communication, was just bound to cause discrepancies. Now she resided in a distant area, and her guild wasn't directly neighboring a potential adversary. Nor was she associated with the affiliation that would place her with such a status, but she wished to take a rational, preemptive approach to this, in case her past duties came to haunt her.

Luckily, there was someone at the entrance of the guild hall, maybe about ten feet away from her current position. Paris enclosed perhaps five more feet, before coming to a halt. Having not associated with this side of town much at all, of course she had no idea who she was talking to. However, she was positive the blonde male before her would be able to inform her of the question that was lingering in her mind since she stepped foot out of her oversized castle miles away and prepared her trip to Magnolia.

"Excuse me," The albinistic half-demon began. "Would you happen to know where I could find Fairy Tail's master?"

[Hakkai]

At first, Skaldi didn't notice the stranger's approach. His eyes were once again glued to the paper as his productive funk rambled on, his pen darting from sheet to sheet. The movements of his eyes and hand must have seemed almost feverish to an outsider. Eventually, Skaldi's momentum came to an abrupt halt when he realized there was nothing left to read, review, or sign. It took him a few moments to register that he was actually done. When he did, he didn't whoop, or beam, or anything like that. He just smiled and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. For now, it seemed, he was clear of the paperwork. For now being the operative phrase.

He heard a female voice talking to him and realized he was being addressed. Blinking once or twice, Skaldi looked up to meet the gaze of an albinistic woman, who was staring down at him from her position about five feet away. For a moment or two, the guild master merely stared back blankly, but as his mind shifted out of bookwork gear, he remembered his manners and quickly stood up, tucking the pen behind his ear and the stash of paper under his arm. It would be extremely bad form if he let the paperwork mess up the other aspects of his job, one of which was properly receiving anyone who wanted to direct an enquiry to the guild master.

"Actually, yeah," he replied. His tone was light enough, and devoid of sarcasm. "That'd be me." Skaldi held out his free hand, as if to invite a handshake. "Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?" He honestly couldn't begin to guess at the identity of the woman, or what she might want from him. He couldn't even hazard a guess as to whether this was just a courtesy call or serious business. For all he knew he might even talking to a major political player here. Skaldi made a mental note - watch the news more often.

Paperwork aside, there were certain habits he was going to have to get into if he wanted to do the job properly. Keeping on top of current affairs was one. Staying updated on who was who was another. It'd be utterly mortifying if he ended up conversing with another guild master, only find out that he had been entirely ignorant of their true identity.

[PARIS LEVESQUE]

When the woman heard that he was in fact the guild master, her eyes widened in surprise. To her, the revelation proved pleasant as a light smile crossed her features as she soaked in the realization. As she seen the hand extended for a handshake, she enclosed some of the modest distance and reached out, accepting the shake firmly.

Maybe her previous role truly wasn't befitting of her, because when she thought about it, she could not imagine being a authoritative rival of someone she hardly knew, with little reason to justify the animosity. Still, it was moderately awkward for her.

"Paris Levesque, Mistress of Lamia Scale," When she replied, it almost seemed as though a realization struck her. She yet did not know of the prominence of her guild, and thus she found the need to preemptively educate of what exactly a 'Lamia Scale' was. "An old guild of Hargeon, a mere two hour train ride away."

If someone had showed up at her doorstep, she knew that inwardly a sole thought would be running rampant: why are you here? Being a person whose foundation was comprised of sturdy precautions, she adhered to her tendency to satisfy potential unspoken questions.

"I'm not here on any official business, but, before something ends up going down the grapevine without it being properly explained, I want to basically clear something up about myself, before it's misinterpreted by my fellow guild masters."

Especially the ones that just so happened to be nigh neighboring the town of which her own guild resided.

Yet, she probably wouldn't approach Mermaid Heel. After all, they were renowned for their obstinate neutrality when it came to lawful affairs, so why bother?

[Hakkai]

Yup. What was probably the most mortifying situation Skaldi could find himself in right now? Talking to another Guild Master without having recognized them for what they were beforehand. Skaldi's expression momentarily switched to deadpan, as if he were about to smack himself in the head for his own absent-mindedness. He really needed to start keeping up with this sort of thing, or he was just going to keep showing himself up. And as Guild Master, that meant that by extension he was showing up Fairy Tail, too.

It only lasted a brief moment, though. Instead of allowing his initial embarrassment to go any further, Skaldi moved on and tried to get to grips with the business at hand. Okay, that was a horrible pun. In any case, the woman who had just introduced herself as Paris Levesque had a firm, confident handshake, and even though Skaldi knew for a fact that such gestures could be feigned, he found himself already developing a little bit of trust and appreciation for his opposite number in Lamia Scale. At any rate, he thought he ought to reassure her when she felt the need to elaborate on her guild's location, just to show he wasn't a total ignoramus. "Yeah, I'm familiar. It's one of the major Light Guilds after all."

Skaldi paused for a second or two, and gave Paris a lopsided grin, deciding that frankness would be the best way to go. After all, now she had sought him out, it was important to try and establish a good relationship with Lamia Scale. "Though, I gotta be honest, you kinda have the advantage of me... I haven't been keeping up with the news lately, so I had no idea there was a change in leadership for Lamia Scale too." Skaldi scratched the back of his head, still smiling. "I guess there's a lot of change going on at the moment, all over the place."

Then Paris said something that caused his eyebrows to raise. Rather than official business, she had sought him out in order to clear up that pertained only to herself? Skaldi thought quickly. From the way she had phrased that, it sounded as if there was something shady in her past that was likely to cost her favour points with the other Light Guilds if rumour got a hold of it. Personally, Skaldi was wiling to suspend judgement until he heard what the woman had to say, so he simply nodded in response. "I see. Are you fine with sticking around out here or would you rather we take this discussion inside? Either is fine by me."