Morning Glory [FINISHED]

[Kari Muffin]

Theofilus hated the mornings. The other birds could honestly take their business else where. The mornings meant he had to open the shop, get the books ready, and find his business partner who always walked in three or four hours late. It was hard to run a business properly when your "boss" did none of the work, and you did all of it. Including that tedious paperwork that no one really wants to do.

That was Theofilus' job, and he hated it and loved it all at the same time. He enjoyed the thought of using numbers to solve problems, and he enjoyed the fact that he could move up in the world and eventually take the business over for his aging boss.

Today he had opened the doors in record timing, in fact he was a full five minutes earlier than he normally was. This took him off guard, in fact it made him suspect that some unwilling force had decided to screw over his day secretly. Something was going to go horribly wrong with a client, or a shipment or something. It always happened when days started good and early. That was another reason why he hated mornings.

The shop itself was small, since most of their dealings in the office was the actual math behind the imports and exports that they did through out the small company. In the room behind the standard shop entrance and counter was where all the books were kept for safe keeping, and in the room adjacent to the one next to it was the "business deal room." In other words it was a quaintly decorated room where he charmed people into using their services and sometimes slipping in something a bit extra. However, business had been slow for the past week...

The bells jingled as the door opened to the small shop that dealt with trading of water and other precious commodities.

"Hello! My name is Theofilus, how may I help you?" He smiled as cheerily as he could.

[The Jenn]

Peder rushed into the small shop, his expression pained and extremely harried. While he normally considered his massive quantities of hair and fluff to be attractive, this morning they looked like nothing so much as a forest of tangles and bed-hair. He'd had a sleepless night trying to work out a problem, waiting anxiously for export business to open, and nearly chewing his toes raw with worry. The distinctive markings labeled him a native to the region, if not to the town in particular.

"Ah, Theofilius! Just the person I wanted to see." In actual fact, he could have seen anyone and been overjoyed to find them. Just so long as they could help him before the workday really got going, before he had to waste a valuable day of labor because of someone's thoughtless oversight. Of course, whoever made the mistake wouldn't have to deal with the problem, oh no. That would fall on the shoulders of him and his brother, if not their entire small contracting firm.

He hustled up to the counter and took a calming breath, trying to get back his normal cheerful levelheadedness. It wasn't working. He was hyperventilating just a tad too much for anyone to mistake him as collected. "I, ah, don't suppose you've been personally involved with any of the arrangements made in the past two weeks, have you? Particularly one involving a large order of river stones to be delivered to the Capital?"

His eyes pleaded with the sparrow, practically begged for the bird to have some knowledge of the case. That would make things so much easier, and faster, and...he wanted to throw up, he was so upset. His stomach roiled and he did his best to keep a straight face while he fought down the attack of nerves.

[Kari Muffin]

"Oh! Peder! Allow me to check the books on the shipment... I could have sworn it was sent out." He hopped off from his perch and shuffled through the various books under the counter top.

He found the books for Corvistowne, the Highlands, Villa en Mirr, but couldn't find the books for Capital City. Even though he was positive that he had just reorganized all of the books yesterday. This deal had been going on for the past two weeks, it should have been on the top of the pile and next to his accounting files for the monthly total.

Theofilus swore under his breath. This was not how he liked to run the business.

He popped up from under the counter to reassure Peder that everything was all right. "I'm sorry this is taking so long, it would seem that my boss was checking the account status of the Capital City orders last night. I need to go into his office and grab the books. I'm sorry."

He quickly hurried to the office and raided his bosses files.

Capital City where could you be? He couldn't have taken them home could he? Panic welled up in Theofilus throat. Losing customers because of some careless act of his boss was not something he wanted to deal with. It was going to be his business soon enough, but if he screwed up now he would be the one to be blamed.

He paused. What could be the most unusual place to put the Order Status books? Under the desk. He'd find it there. Thankfully he did. He slipped the book in his mouth and hopped back out to the corner.

"Sorry," Theofilus said with a cordial smile as he slipped the book open with his feet and paged to the order. "Yes, here's the order! It was already sent out three days ago... no..." he squinted at the tiny scribbled writing. "The order was put on hold for some reason." The bird gave Peder a quizzical look, "It says lack of adequate funds."

[The Jenn]

Watching the bird hop off in search of the correct book, Peder allowed a bit of home to shine through the nervous circles his mind had been running through since the night before. His brother was in the Capital, working on that end of the project, while he remained in their home region to make sure all of the necessary materials were procured and shipped on schedule. When he received word via messenger that a large, vital shipment of multi-hued smooth-ground river rock had not arrived at its designated time nearly three days past, he had begun to worry. Panic his him full-force when he arrived only five minutes too late to the export office and missed the evening clerk by a hair's breadth. Waiting until the next day to clear things up would take more time than he could afford to spend, but he had no choice in the matter.

If Theofilius said they had probably shipped the order, maybe there was simply a delay in transit...? Maybe the next message had yet to reach him, negating the previous one and telling him that all was well? That was a warming thought.

The smile reassured him as the sparrow returned and he smiled back, hopeful despite the worry gnawing at his gut. The first half of the sentence made his ears perk up from their determined downward slant, but they twitched at his pause and flattened completely at his next statement. A small moan made its way past the tightness in Peder's throat.

"Our client said his father had taken care of the financing," the feline mix almost mewled in his distress, his entire neck tense and aching from how tightly his muscles were clenched. "My brother even checked with the bank they used, confirmed that they had been cleared for a loan of that amount. How...but...why?!"

Trying to take a few deep breaths, he gulped down air in an attempt to fight the nausea. He hated money troubles, oh how he hated them! "When did your company request the funds?" he asked, trying to come up with something, anything to salvage this situation quickly. Time was of the essence - every day wasted meant expenses piling high, eating into any profits they hoped to make.

[Kari Muffin]

Oh dear. Peder seemed to be panicking. Theofilus glanced at the the order. It had said the first payment had never been cleared because twenty percent of it had been missing. No that was not good at all on anyone's part. Why hadn't he been personally informed about this? This was one of his jobs. And yet it would seem the hold order was placed after the actual order was partly shipped.

"We never received the first full installment of our pay, according to the record. We sent an express messenger out less than a week ago and never got a response." Theofilus sighed. "This problem isn't as difficult as it would seem."

He slipped under the counter once more and grabbed the records for the recent shipments of building materials. He flipped through the pages until he found the river stones. Ah ha! The stones had made it to the storage warehouse in Capital City. The hold order was placed so they were never delivered.

"Since your business has good credit with us, we can make some simple arrangements to fix this problem. Since the river stones are in a storage facility in the Capital they can be picked up directly with a pick order slip." Theofilus smiled at Peder. "However complicated this might be, I assure you everything will be fine. Just take a deep breathe and we can solve this."

He hoped.

[The Jenn]

Peder heard the sparrow's words through a slight haze, the blood rushing in his ears as if he'd been been dealt a solid blow. People he could deal with, and construction, and barter, and all of that...but money troubles made him physically ill, to the point where his brother had to smooth out almost anything bad that happened with their finances. For all that Pathos seemed lackadaisical, he measured up just fine with funds.

"I...yes...of course, you're right," he managed to get around the lump in his throat, trying his damndest to keep the scant breakfast he'd bolted down stay out of sight where it belonged. All of this, the entire scenario, it reminded him so strongly of his uncle that he could almost smell the cigar smoke that perpetually haunted the thick white-blue fur.

The stone's location finally penetrated his thoughts and he closed his eyes for a moment in pure relief, glad at least that this news meant less trouble. There was a reason he and his brother worked through this particular export firm, however small it may be. Someone here had always been able to sort out any problems they may have encountered and keep everything running smoothly. He wondered now if Theofilius was always that 'someone'. They'd run dozens of contracts, some routine and others presenting unique challenges to everyone involved. He was just grateful they'd built the kind of reputation for integrity that allowed these kinds of time- and money-saving accommodations to be made on their behalf.

If there was one thing his father had never failed to hammer home, it was the value of a solid reputation.

"Yes...that...that sounds fine. More than fine. That's very...it's such good news. Thank you." His mind started switching gears, trying to get out of the rut it was in - damn money, Pathos! I hate it! - and work through the problem at hand. "Do you have connections with a courier service that could deliver the message as quickly as possible? I would use our own messenger, but he started his return to the city last evening and I wouldn't be able to get in touch with him soon enough."

[Kari Muffin]

"Our courier is actually scheduled an appointment to speak with me in a few minutes." Theofilus had just finished the message when the door jingled open. A lithe canine similar to a gray hound slipped in. Even with the usual lake muscle the canine was quite a show. The fastest courier that was willing to work with them in town.

"Kelsi!" Theofilus almost chirped. "What perfect timing you have, my lovely lady."

She looked up at him wrought with skepticism. "You obviously want me to do something other than what we discussed for you." She eyed Peder as she spoke.

Theofilus refrained from rolling his eyes in front of a customer. He and Kelsi often bantered pack and forward like this for a few minutes each day, until she finally agreed to do the job. However, he had no time for that. This was a pressing matter that he needed to attend to in the swiftest manner.

The sparrow eyed Kelsi up and down, "Are you fit to take a trip to Capital City? We need to send a simple message and possibly a pink slip. We'd need it there as soon as possible, then I'd need you to deliver two messages to our correspondents in Capital City."

Kelsi shrugged nonchalantly, "I'll take a nonstop trip, nothing all that special. I just need the proper sign offs and a little extra for the added message."

"Well then, everything is perfect!" Theofilus grabbed a pad of pink sheets from one of the drawers and scribbled down a few instructions. He slipped the paper on the the table for Peder's seal of approval. "I need you to sign here on the pink slip so your brother can get the stones without any trouble. I also need you to help me and sign a little letter to your employer after Kelsi is off and running. It's not as important as sending your order though."

He grabbed the other message in the mean time. The location was already written there for Kelsi's benefit. Hopefully their small business partners in the Capital weren't afraid of shaking down these nobles for rightful payment. He really didn't want to pick up the tab on some pompous card who was no better than a dead beat. Perhaps this was all just a misunderstand, but Theofilus doubted that--some nobles were less than trust worthy.

Then again, there was always someone who wasn't trust worthy and had to ruin it for everyone else. Sometimes this job was more than frustrating.

[The Jenn]

Peder took the writing implement carefully in his teeth and managed the rough-looking 'Pr' he used as his signature. Accordingly, his brother's was 'Ps'. With the pink slip signed and given back to Theofilius, he closed his eyes and tried to think of what to send in a letter.

"These're the snobbish types, so it'll have to be a somewhat formal style," he muttered. Even when the upper classes treated their hired help well, talking with them still made him a tad bit uncomfortable. Too much rested on how they felt about what he said and their frustrating little verbal barbs. He could interpret it all better than his brother, but that wasn't really saying much. "Something to do with a misunderstanding about payment dates, so we're not implying that they did this on purpose."

'Which they very well may have' hung in the air, unspoken but clearly heard.

He knew taking a job on the northern end of the Capital would be trouble, just knew it. Some of the people there had more pride than they did common sense. He supposed it came from living too close to the Palace of Hearts, not that he would say that kind of thing where anyone could overhear.

"After it's written, signed, and sent, I should probably go back to our own office and make sure we don't have any scheduling conflicts because of this delay," the mixed breed said glumly. He knew of at least two jobs in the near future that could potentially be jeopardized by this little mistake, neither of them especially large but both with clients he valued highly. He didn't want to lose their business if he could help it. Already he was trying to picture his logbook mentally and shuffling around dates.

((If you want to end it, or if you want me to in one more post...either is fine. :3 I look forward to him meeting Theofilius someday in bipedal form, which I'm sure he will, what with their business dealings. So very sorry for the long delay.))

[Kari Muffin]

Theofilus handed the slip to the messenger, along with the extra letter. for another deal taking place in Capital City. Now, however, he had to focus on a letter for the payment mishap.

"I'll write the standard formal letter, about this "unfortunate accident" about the proper payment methods," He held back a sigh. If he were ever to become a higher rank he wouldn't act like a complete stuffed shirt. The formal letters were so bothersome, did you really need all the pomp and circumstance when you simply needed to get paid.

"I'll send you the letter for review before it's sent off. I apologize for this, I should have caught it sooner," he looked down at the book in front of him. If it had only been in its proper place he would have been able to catch this mistake. He had to discuss new arrangements with Mirko. If he actually used the filing system many of these hitches would have been avoided.

He looked up to see the messenger slip out of the door to make her run to the Capital. The other messenger they used would have to make a trip of the letter. That didn't sit well with Theo. "I will make the letter crystal clear that there was a miscommunication, I promise you."

(( You can end it if you like, it would probably be best to have Peder walk out of the store to do his thing. It's up to you <3. X3 and Yes, I hope to have them meet while he's in his biped form. And it's no problem at all. >_>; Really I thought I wouldn't be able to get on at all. ))

[The Jenn]

"Thank you so much for your help," Peder said with as much sincerity as he could put into one sentence. "I really, truly appreciate this. For all that things were misunderstood and overlooked on both ends, this could have been a much worse situation than it turned out to be. Rest assured that you will have our business for years to come."

The cat-coon trusted Theofilius to make the letter sound suitably official and appropriate. He would give it a once-over before affixing his print to the bottom, of course, but he would want it on its way as soon as possible. This particular commission couldn't be finished soon enough.

He had watched the messenger slip out the door, but it didn't occur to him how the letter would get there. His mind had already begun to turn over what he needed to do, when he needed to do it, and how very, very much he needed a good breakfast. He bobbed his head to the sparrow politely. "I'll be seeing you shortly, I'm sure. Again, thank you, and have a good day." With a harried but appreciative smile, he turned and hurried out the door, no less quickly but much less harried than he had been upon entry.

((Jeez. *shakes Peder muse* Why were you sleeping so long? And why do I get the feeling you're still tired?! ; Oh well. At least he woke up long enough to get an ending to this. XD; Whee. I'll so have to play with Theo again sometime.))