realmofstories | [OPEN] Reclusive Tendencies

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[OPEN] Reclusive Tendencies

Characters: Scrooge McDuck (2017) [Odin]

Campaign: Break

Format: Prose to start but will match

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Summary: Having lost his family a third time due to his great-nephews returning to their home, Scrooge slips back into old reclusive tendencies.

It had been weeks since Scrooge had spent much time outside his cottage, venturing only to Magica's tower for magic lessons, the market for food and supplies, or the library to take notes on various subjects. His beak was buried in books as much as possible to avoiding talking with other people, allowing Odin's insatiable hunger for knowledge to drown out the loss of his family a third time.

Honestly, one would think he would've learned by now.

At the moment, he was seated at his desk in his cottage, pen scratching away at paper as he took notes from yet another book. Thought and Memory were perched on the railing closing off this particular loft area. His two wolves -- Peace and Quiet -- laid on the floor of the main reading/living area.

He wished for the pressures and distractions running a multi-trillion-dollar corporation. It had done wonders to distract him during those ten years following the loss of his niece. This was ultimately just busy work, and if he didn't focus too much on what he was writing, his mind would wander to those six glorious months before the world came crashing down around his ears.

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Yu liked to wander around. One could call it slight snooping, but he wanted to at least look at the other's places, the wanderlust impossible to ignore after a time.

Something had attracted his baby eagle's attention as it moved it's head towards a direction, letting out a screech. Yu did the very logical thing of moving towards it, becoming coming into the view of the cottage.

"I wonder who lives in there," he ponders out loud, mostly for his eagle. "I wonder if it's rude to just knock and see what happens..."

There'd be nothing that could be seen or heard from the cottage until Yu reached the front door. At which point, Peace and Quiet began barking like excitable dogs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Scrooge snapped.

Well, there would be no more wondering, it seemed, as Yu heard the sound of the dogs and realized that it might be best to wait. When Scrooge opens the door, a teenager in a toga greets him, the baby eagle on his shoulder squawking at the dogs and crows, until Yu patted his head to calm him down.

"I'm sorry. I was wandering around, and came upon your place."

The "dogs" were actually a large pair of wolves who sniffed with keen interest at Yu. One of the ravens, Memory, flew down to land on Scrooge's right shoulder to compensate for the one eye he kept closed, the large bird studying Yu intently.

"Well, there's not much to see here," he said testily.

It was an old barn that had been converted to a cottage, after all. It was one large room with a bathroom and kitchen that were hidden away behind the bookcases along each long wall. The loft with his sleeping area and the loft that served as his study was above both bookcases.

The bookcases held books he'd managed to pick up during his time here at various bookshops. There were also plenty of journals that he'd turned into commonplace books, filled with notes from books he hadn't been able to keep or just his own observations during his time here. There was still plenty of space for more, but he was rapidly filling the shelves regardless.

Yu waved at the bird, as his own tilted its head to look at the other. Despite being a child it was already larger than it's counterpart.

"That's alright," he replied, good-natured, as the clouds around him dissipated and he looked down on the two dogs that were not dogs now that he had a better look at them. One would have expected him to make a comment about Scrooge's...duckness, but Yu was used to having friends who weren't completely human anyway. "But I wouldn't say that. It looks very comfortable...and there's so many books!" ~~Do you have a copy of Witchy Detective~~.

He adjusted his toga briefly.

"Sorry, where are my manners. I'm Yu Narukami. I just got a new essence recently. It's nice to meet you." He bows briefly, what a polite man. "I'll take my leave if I'm bothering you."

Memory quarked in Yu's direction as Scrooge took a moment to study him. "Scrooge McDuck. I've been here for...about a year now."

My, how the time flew. And not always in a good way.

"Zeus?" he hazarded. The eagle and toga seemed to imply it.

"I've been here for a bit too, but I guess we never ran into each other."

Sometimes a very tall grey-haired man and the world's (ex?) richest ducks simply had no story reason to do so.

"That's right." He stroked his chin before looking at Scrooge. "If I had to venture a guess for you, maybe a famous pirate or Odin." He paused, knowing that was a weird connection. "The Odin I remember had a patch over one eye, but he was a lot more...purple? It's a long story."

Edited 2020-10-28 03:21 (UTC)

"Odin," Scrooge said with a nod. "And doesn't surprise me that the version of my essence in your world is difference. Zeus in mine is a right arse and useless to boot."

Dogo happens to pass by Scrooge's cottage while exploring, while wearing his new boots that make him stand on two legs. It's hard to get used to, he keeps tripping and falling, but he's slowly getting used to them.

Standing on two legs also makes him just tall enough to push open the door to Scrooge's cottage. He hopes that the boots are quiet enough that he can do a little exploring (and maybe take a souvenir) inside of the cottage - or that whoever lives here just isn't home right now.

Dogo had made a bit of a miscalculation. For pushing open the door meant coming face-to-face with a pair of wolves that growled at him.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't set them on you." Scrooge glared down at the interloper.

"Uhhh..."

Whoops. Dogo quietly slides off the boots, dropping down to all fours - there's no way he'd be able to outrun a couple of wolves on two shaky legs.

"I didn't know anyone lived here!" Dogo exclaimed excitedly, wagging his tail in a way he hopes will be seen as friendly. He really doesn't want to be a wolf's meal tonight.

"Your house is so cool, I just wanted to look around!"

Scrooge snorted. "If this is your definition of 'cool', you need a new one."

Scrooge suspected the house had once been a barn that had been converted into a cottage. The large main room had a living area with bookcases on opposite sides of the room, a loft above each bookcase. Hidden behind the bookcases were a bathroom and a kitchen. The bookcases weren't filled with books, but that certainly wasn't for lack of trying.

He climbed down from the study loft to get a better look at his intruder. "Peace. Quiet."

The two wolves sat down obediently, still eying Dogo but no longer a moment away from lunging at the command of their master.

“Well... it’s cool because it’s way different than living in a cave. There’s so much stuff in a house!”

Ah... whew. Dogo gives a little sigh of relief when the two wolves stand down. But there’s another large bird person here too?

“I met a bird like you earlier. She gave me sausages!”

"I suppose that's true."

A bird like him?

"Do you mean a bird person or a duck?"

If it was the latter, well, he hadn't thought Magica was the type.

It's hard to explain why, but somehow Xion is very drawn to this cottage. She thinks it might be her essence; that's explained a lot what has been going on here.

She politely knocks on the door.

The wolves on the other side of the door sit up and face the door before trotting over to it, giving little querying yips. There's someone on the other side that they don't know yet they feel comfortable with. How curious.

Scrooge climbed down, confused to their reactions. "Back up, Peace, Quiet." He opened the door and looked up at the human. "Yes, what do you want?"

Xion looks at him. Isn't that... Scrooge McDuck? He lives in Twilight town too. But since Roxas didn't mention others from their world being here, she won't address that.

"Hi. My essence kind of led me here. I'm not really sure why though, since my house is in the exact opposite way." She pauses and then. "My essence is Baldr, if it rings any bell."

"One of Odin's sons," Scrooge supplied. "Captain of the Hringhorni, often called 'the greatest ship', and laird of Breidablik." He nodded his head. "Yes, I'm familiar. And I suppose it makes sense given I have Odin's essence."

Ohh. So their essences were related and that's how she ended up here. To say this was weird was an understatement.

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you... my actual name is Xion. I arrived here not too long ago."

"Scrooge McDuck," he told her by way of introduction. "And you lived in this cottage specifically or in Index in general?"

"In Index. My home here is actually the ship you just mentioned... I was merely looking around to get myself familiar with the place."

It had taken a bit of time for Lena to track Scrooge down, mostly because she hadn't exactly known where he lived. But it had also taken some time to gather the courage to actually make her way to his house, because the thought of being alone with him felt more than a little awkward. Especially given the last time that had happened.

Still, with the boys gone, someone had to check up on him. And considering she hadn't seen him since they left, that probably wasn't good.

So, after a moment of silently staring up at his house, she took a breath and knocked on the door.

Peace and Quiet began yipping for Scrooge's attention. He glared up from his book and shouted, "What do you want?!"

Gods, who was it now? And they'd better have a good reason for showing up...

She didn't say much while the dogs were barking, but hearing Scrooge's voice had her questioning what she was doing. Something about this felt a little familiar, and the last time it hadn't really gone well.

Then again, Magica wasn't here. Or...rather, she was, but not that Magica...never mind.

"Scrooge, open up!" she called, hoping she sounded more confident than she actually felt.

The voice sounded vaguely familiar. He got up from his chair, slipping a bookmark into place.

"This had better be good..." he grumbled. He opened the door, blinking at Lena. "Yes, what is it?"

She took in a breath when the door opened, because if she was being honest, she hadn't thought it was going to be that easy.

And now that they were face to face, she realized the flaw in her plan...mostly because she didn't have a plan, and she had no idea where to go from here.

"Uh...hey," she said, and inwardly cringed by how lame that sounded. "I was just, uh...dropping by. I haven't...seen you around lately."

Rapunzel had, in recent days, taken to practicing her wolf form while exploring what she hasn't seen of the Index so far. And in this venture, she'd passed by the cottage - too closely to avoid her quirk. The temptation to view her reflection in one of the cottage windows took over - so either Scrooge or Peace and Quiet might spot her as she put her paws up against the window for a better look.

Peace had nosed open the door to let herself out, the wolf trotting off away from the cottage.

Quiet came out next, looking towards the new wolf with curiously. She yipped questioningly towards the newcomer, tail wagging slightly. Another wolf to join the pack?

[She'd been too focused on her reflection to notice the other wolves inside, so she's startled when Peace comes out - oh dear, seems there's a bit of a misunderstanding here.]

Oh! Um, should you two be out here?

[If they're pets of the cottage's owner, they'd be missed... She transforms back into a human, hoping that doesn't scare them off. She needs to try to usher them back inside...]

Peace tilted her head to one side, wagging her tail with curiosity. Quiet trotted off somewhere before returning a few minutes later, sniffing the air around this newcomer. Huh. Smelled like the wolf she just passed by.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Scrooge groused, his mind getting prickled by the wolves and not allowing him to focus at all.

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[OPEN] Reclusive Tendencies

Time for an Allfather meeting

Oh heck yes!

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Sorry for the delay. Wombo combo of gmail being a jerk and mold taking over my life.

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hi Odin meet Baldr

Ohai!

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Sorry for the delay. Wombo combo of gmail being a jerk and mold taking over my life.

it's okay! I've had some issues myself

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Sorry for the delay. Wombo combo of gmail being a jerk and mold taking over my life.

No worries!

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Curse you, gmail! /shakes fist