Another Town, Another Problem

[no_love_potions]

A

Everyone's probably seen the ad at some point or another. It's been in the newspapers for around about a year now and passed around here and there on business cards. Small, unassuming but the subject of a few mumbles among people who actually notice it. And who can blame them, while the format isn't exactly an attention grabber the content is probably unusual enough. A simple address beneath a block of plain, boring text.

HARRY DRESDEN - WIZARD AND PRIVATE DETECTIVE
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment

The address points to a simple office on the third floor of a building in Union's business district. A frosted glass window on the door proudly displays the same name and title as the ad. Anybody venturing inside will find a musky old office containing little more than a worn old desk with a few equally worn chairs in front of a small window with a wonderful view of the brick wall next door, a couple of filing cabinets and a couch against one wall that looks very much like it had been dragged off a curb somewhere. A ceiling fan squeaks obnoxiously overhead.

More important is probably the tall man stretched out on that couch. One hand dangling off the side next to an empty coffee cup resting on its side and a magazine over his face muffling his snoring. A Lillipup snoozes away curled up on his chest.

... Business is slow.


B.

There's a man wandering around the streets of Union. A very, very tall man in a long black leather duster and otherwise plain clothes and sneakers. Mouse the Lillipup trots along at his side as he weaves and wanders his way through the streets.

It's a pretty strange sight as the man doesn't seem to have any idea where the heck he's going. Just kind of weaving around randomly on the streets and sidewalks, even doubling back and looping around here and there. Is he blind? Maybe. That'd certainly explain the tinted glasses he's wearing despite the sun beginning to dip over the horizon.

Maybe he's just piss drunk.

Blind or not, he's not particularly watching where he's going so you'd better watch out if you cross his path unless you want to get run over. Or you can stop him if you're feeling more curious.

Comments

B

[demenscantrix]

As the sun went down, the city still bustled quite a bit, people and Pokemon moving through the area with relative ease. And one such person was Nero Claudius, walking side by side with her Ponyta, Sextus. The creature burned an eerie purple, it's Shiny quality just what the ostentatious Gigan woman wished.

When she feels the tall man bump into her, she doesn't stagger. She holds...surprisingly firm despite barely coming up to his chest. But instead of shouting or screaming? She leaps backwards, easily covering several yards, her posture defensive and her eyes wild and confused.

"Dresden?!"

[no_love_potions]

The streets were crowded but he'd been doing pretty well at avoiding bowling anybody right the heck over so far. That got a little more complicated the more the path got... windier was the word that came to mind. And then it was on one particularly sharp and sudden turn that he felt himself bump into somebody much smaller and shorter than him.

Still, for all that, this person sure felt more like hitting a wall than they had any right to. Nero might not have flinched but the bump stopped Harry dead in his tracks with a grunt. Hell's bells, what was that...?

He started an apology before he realized that whoever his unfortunate victim had been was already long gone, bounding a few dozen feet backwards. He lifted his head, looking her way and then--

wait. He knew that voice.

Slowly, he raised a hand to push his glasses up off his eyes and onto his forehead. He blinked a few times, rubbed at his eyes once and squinted toward her.

"... Claudius?"

[demenscantrix]

Nero's eyes narrowed and she took another step back, hand reaching down to the jagged red blade sheathed at her waist. She didn't want to attack someone in the street, but if he was here...then that meant she might have to. Sextus whinnyed uncomfortably, stepping back beside his trainer, feeling the tension building in her. But the strike didn't come, not yet.

"You are not taking me back, Dresden. I will kill you before I go back to those tunnels," the woman practically snarled.

Because there was only one reason a Mage would be here, to take her away again. It'd been a worry for some time, that the Council would take umbrage with her escape and the death of her handler and send someone to fetch her. That it was Dresden was a surprise, but not too much of one, given their history.

[no_love_potions]

Seeing the former garrison commander here was already something of a shock to the system to begin with. The last he'd heard of her, she'd been captured and hauled off as a prisoner to some pit he wasn't even sure he could find. He'd tried to vouch and argue for her, but in the end his arguments that she deserved leniency or at least a fair trial had fallen on deaf ears and he'd had no choice but to accept that she was lost. Another casualty who didn't deserve the fate handed to her.

Because even if he didn't know what that fate was, he could make a decent guess.

Surprise gave way to a whole different kind of wide-eyed expression when she went for her sword, and snarled out that simple declaration. It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together. If she was here then that meant she had to have escaped somehow and that meant seeing someone like him... someone who'd been part of the Sanctuary Resistance. Well, this could go very badly.

"Whoah-- whoah, hey!" He shifted back a step, right hand moving toward the blasting rod in his coat and his other coming up in front of him. She didn't draw her weapon yet so neither did he, but he wasn't about to be caught unarmed. "I'm not here to take you anywhere. I'm just here, trying to make a living just like you, alright? War's over. We're just two people who ran into each other who don't want anything to get ugly so just... take it easy, okay?

[demenscantrix]

Her body shifted, turning to one side to narrow her profile like any good fencer, and she watched him with a kind of wary apprehension. This wasn't like it was before, though, she wasn't afraid of any mage. The air around her sparkled a little, a shield of energy ready to form if he came at her or drew that rod. And given that Gigans couldn't be Earthkin, a pretty big damn clue about what happened.

But she's still rational, if somewhat cold. For the moment, anyway. Her voice came out hard, a commander's bark rather than as the casual voice she'd grown used to of late.

"Why are you here, then, Dresden? If not to retrieve me for your masters, what brings you here? Looking for more victims? Spreading the Council's influence to a better place?"

B

[windyellow]

Dustin as was in a good a mood, more so than usual. He was able to get a new friendly addition to his team of Pokémon much to Kapri the Purrloin's annoyance. A Togepi egg was in his hands, and being a Ground/Fighting Enlightened he knew the sway of someone wobbling. So handling the egg carefully to Kelly his Pancham starter, he quickly tried to help the other man to his feet.

"Dude, you okay? You need help?"

[no_love_potions]

Okay, this was getting crazy. Something had gone particularly wobbly in this area and keeping up with it was a real trick.

Sharp turn to the left, ten steps. Wobbly zigzag from left to right for awhile. Half a loop. More zigzags for about ten paces and then a full circle--what the hell?

But then he was stopped abruptly by helpful hands, snapping him out of his... whatever he was up to.

Stopping, he turned his head a few times before settling on the younger man.

"What? No, I'm okay, thanks." He said after a moment's pause. "I'm just looking for a Skitty."

A

[crossbowizard]

Some people have the knack for entering a room quietly. They can just sort of slip in and no one even notices them until they clear their throats emphatically. Sometimes not even then. Some people just fade into the background.

Ridcully was not such a person. Especially when he's annoyed at having to check in on someone who apparently might be on the Mage Council's shit list. Surely this was what he had employees for. He didn't even really care about the boy that much.

Ridcully knocked (pounded, really) on the door loudly, then after waiting for hardly any time at all he simply flung it open. His voice boomed across the room with a special sort of penetrating volume that made it completely impossible to ignore. "Come on come on! I don't have all day, you know! I can't be having with all this slackness, Dresden. On your feet and lets have a look at you!"

Most of his coworkers had long since thrown out their alarm clocks. There was no point in keeping them around.

[no_love_potions]

It was a lovely dream that Harry was having, it really was. In it, he'd spent months searching for a beautiful and shining prize and after an eternity of searching he had finally discovered the untold riches of a steady paycheck!

He'd just been in the process of paying his rent on time when an earthquake and an erupting volcano obliterated the building. Which is to say, Ridcully woke woke him up.

He jumped and snorted, Mouse jumping off onto the floor as he slowly peeled the magazine from his face and sat up. Bleary, sleep-blurred eyes blinked up at the older Mage as if trying to figure out if this was real life or still part of the dream.

"... Could you try that again, a little louder this time?" He cleared his throat and dragged a hand through his short, messy hair, the perfect match for his rumpled clothes and several days of stubble on his chin. "I think somebody on the next block might have slept through it."

[crossbowizard]

"Good gods, it's past eleven and you're still asleep? I don't think the council needs to worry about you at all."

His normal cheery personality was at a low ebb right now, on account of how he actually had been badgered into doing this. The gall of it, making a senior mage like him run around like some common flunky!

[no_love_potions]

"What kind of world do we live in where people sleep in sometimes." He grumbled sullenly, looking out the window to get an idea of how long he'd been out. A few hours by the look of things.

Mouse settled back on the couch beside his trainer, eyeing the old man carefully and glancing between him and Harry. For his part, Harry stayed right where he was on the couch scratching the back of his head and rubbing a hand over the scratchy stubble on his chin.

"... So, can I help you?"

[crossbowizard]

Ridcully would have been annoyed by that attitude from a normal person. As Dresden was actually a mage, even if not one in particularly good standing, he was prepared to let it slide. In fact, he generally approved, though he didn't let it show on his face. A bit of backbone rarely did a mage any harm.

"Unfortunately not. I have received a message from the Council of Magi. Apparently they were prepared to ignore you so long as you were nice and far away here in Union. Now that we have an official presence in the city, though, I'm afraid it falls to me as the senior representative to 'put the fear of the Gods in you.'"

If Harry thought that sounded absurd, he could probably tell that Ridcully also felt it to be fairly absurd just from the man's facial expression. He looked like it was taking all his self control to stop his eyes from rolling so hard they got lost under the couch.

B

[arachnocide]

Boo?

Kurapika had his nose buried in a newspaper, looking simultaneously for a job and a more permanent dwelling as Pairo hovered close by, holding onto the chain wrapped around his wrist to stay in place.

The Pumpkaboo drops the chain when it felt something coming towards it, freezing in place and then it passes right through Dresden, leaving a lingering cold sensation.

"Ah! I apologize!" The blond calls out as he headed towards the two once he felt the chain hit the ground, putting his hands gently on the small pokemon before looking at the man. "Are you all right?"

[no_love_potions]

It's his own mistake, really, as focused as he on the meandering, winding path of whatever it is he's trying to follow along. So when the Pumpkaboo ends up in his path, he barely notices until the Ghost-Type passes straight through him and sends a frigid chill rushing through him.

"Ghaaaa-haaa--!" He stops in place, freezing in place like he'd just gotten a bucket of ice water dumped right over his head. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. That is just a heck of a wake up call."

[arachnocide]

He lets out a sound of relief as the ghost-type chirps to Kurapika, turning to face Dresden upon hearing the sounds he makes, milky eyes unblinking. "Pairo here is blind, so he usually hangs onto a chain so he doesn't get separate from me." The young man explains as he lifts it up, handing the end back to the pokemon.

"You seemed like you were distracted - is there something on your mind?"

[no_love_potions]

At least the little ghost isn't hurt. Harry too takes a second to shake off the chill but does so quick enough.

"My fault then, sorry about that." He reaches up to remove the glasses from his face, nodding to Pairo there, then turns to address Kurapika. "Something like that. Just a little distracted."

It really is hard to focus on what's actually going on with these things on.

[arachnocide]

He gives a faint nod in response, before pausing a moment - brows knitting in thought, as if debating something, then the young man speaks. "Are you new to this city?" He asked as Pairo ran it's free limb down the chain's length until it's close enough to Kurapika to sit on his shoulder.

A

[untalented]

...Enough was enough.

Having seen the ad in the paper for the umpteenth time that afternoon after Orpheus the Foongus had convinced Bucephalus the Blitzle to literally drag their trainer out of Rangers HQ for an old fashioned dose of sunshine, Waver had decided it was high time to investigate this 'wizard.'

Harry Dresden was a name he recognized all too well from Sanctuary, as a maverick Magus who styled himself as an oddity and tolerated Waver's own clumsy attempts at learning spellcraft (and the attendant explosions that came with it.) After being in Union for almost a year himself, and having taken the former Gigan Commander who used to oversee Sanctuary into his own home, he needed to double check on a few things.

Approaching Ridcully, a Magus from the Towers, was out of the question. But, Dresden?

Dresden could be resoned with. He hoped.

Thus, Waver quietly peeked his head into the office that was little more than the size of a studio apartment in the Industrial District to see what the 'wizard' was doing. There was a box of Mabo Curry buns in his hands-- due to an intimate understanding of how the mind of a Magus worked-- and, seeing how Dresden was unguarded and asleep, unceremoniously dropped the entire package onto the cluttered old desk with a resounding thwap.

"...You know, if you called yourself a 'Magus', you might actually get business-- although people still immediately think of us as entertainment here."

[no_love_potions]

Any reputation he had to that effect was purely the doing of other people and nothing Harry himself had ever tried to garner for himself. Both the maverick part and the reasonable part... which was something he might find a little surprising himself.

He jerked a little bit with a snort at the sudden sharp clap of a box hitting his desk. Mouse blinked, raising his head to look at the newcomer curiously, tilting his head.

"... No Mages here." Harry grumbled from under his magazine, and raised an arm to vaguely point toward his door. "Read the sign. Wizard."

[untalented]

The 'reasonable' part came in solely because Harry was like Waver, and not associated with the Towers and the Academy in anything more than just passing. That alone was something of a comfort to the weedy young man, whose Ranger's jacket still hung a little too loosely on his shoulders.

"No one knows what the fuck a 'wizard' is," he said, not even bothering to censor himself here. After the incident with the Dragon, where the whole of Union had their thoughts telepathically connected and were treated to a clusterfuck of swearwords from the young man who was typically a little more polite, he didn't see much reason to mind his language when speaking informally anymore. "It's no wonder you've got time to nap.....are you even eating properly?"

Says the cast iron pot to the ancient kettle: 'you're black.'

[no_love_potions]

Harry groaned a little and swung his legs around, planting his feet on the floor in front of his ratty old couch and tossed his magazine aside to glower at Waver. Only it was a little more on the squinty side because that sun was too damn bright.

"It's like a Mage but less of an asshole." It was an archaic term, to be fair, but one he'd picked for partially that reason. He glanced toward the box dropped down on his desk then back to Waver. "I think so. It's still chew and swallow, right?"

B.

[soulofmagus]

"Riiiiiooooooo!"

There may be a man and a lillipup wandering around, but there's soon a vulpix darting out from a side street directly ahead of them. There's a yellow ribbon dangling from his mouth, and he gives a cheeky flick of his tail as he skids to a halt, taunting his pursuer.

Said pursuer emerges at a dash, a tiny riolu who's intent is so locked onto chasing the fox thief that she fails to notice anything else. Including the human legs that get directly into her path. There's a yelp, and she'll likely sprawl - whoops! Hopefully she won't take you down with her!

[no_love_potions]

There's really no time at all to properly react to the sudden flurry of activity happening down around his feet. One second, he's taking a roundabout and overly wide turn and the next there's a... Vulpix rushing past him? What the--?

So distracted, he doesn't at all have the presence to notice the Riolu dashing into his way. Not until his feet hit her and go right out from under him midstride.

"Shi--!" He stumbles, arms wheeling wildly as he simultaneously tries to keep his balance and both not trample or fall over onto the tiny Pokemon. It goes horribly. One hand snatches out, snags a branch. The branch breaks. His balance goes completely to hell and, broken tree limb in hand, he goes tumbling right over facefirst.

Into a flower bed.

[soulofmagus]

There's a second yelp from the Riolu, though she doesn't tumble into the flower bed right along with Dresden. No, she stays where she is on the paving, eyes welling up in spite of her furious resistance to show weakness. The Vulpix is on alert, however, ears pricked up and tails quivering, before he steps over to snuff at the sprawled human.

And then start snicker-huffing. Looking very dignified there, so very--whoa, hey!

Ivvvv. There's an irritated voice as the fox is swept up into the air by a vine whip, Elhaz glaring at the newest member of his bond team as he yelps and struggled. No fire is cast, however, he knows better. Only once the mischief maker is secure does the Ivysaur extend a second to the poor human male.

Ivvvvv Saaaur? Need a helping vine up there, friend?

[no_love_potions]

Harry just kind of lifts his head when he hears the snickering Vulpix beside him, giving him a baleful glare. For a second, he considers that he's still holding onto that branch before a vine dips down out of nowhere and plucks him away.

Blinking, he looks at the second vine apparently offering him a hand-up. He stares at it for a second then toward the Ivysaur before just shrugging a little and reaching out to accept the boost.

"Thanks."

Meanwhile close by, Mouse makes his way up to the teary-eyed Riolu. His head tilts at the downed Pokemon before leaning down to nuzzle at her gently.