Too Much of a Gold Thing [Harps]

[Lucca]

Graeme didn't want to break the silence, uncomfortable as it was, and he was just clearing his throat quietly in an attempt to do something when his hostess reentered. Perfect timing. He smiled easily, and nodded. "Ah enjoy a great many sorts of tea," was his reply, and settled in to the distraction of pleasant tea and light, casual conversation (in which these brothers of Dania's weren't brought up at all again, luckily).

After politely excusing himself from the table, and even touching his bill to the woman's paw in the best estimation a Duck can manage of a gentlemanly kiss, Graeme followed Dania into another room. Even before he knew what it was going to be about, his blood pounded with excitement. He could almost feel the tingle of restless energy, of possibility and adventure in the air.

His breath caught in his throat at the book, but when Dania mentioned that story...Graeme's reaction was immediate. He stood straighter and his eyes nearly lit up (not quite as literally as when he was near gold). He nodded, barely moving his head, eyes never leaving the Rat, as if looking away or blinking might make the book suddenly disappear.

"Ach, you may be surprised to ken what ah kin believe," he said in a near whisper, a smile stretching across his bill. His fingers itched to grab the book right out of Dania's paws and page through it, but he managed to reign the urge in. There was no need to frighten the poor girl with the strength of his own lust for gold and adventure. At this point, the latter was almost as strong as the former. He hadn't been out and about since that trip to Avington all those months ago. He'd been too busy at home.

But this...now this was going to be an adventure worth having, Graeme was sure! He waited for Dania to go on, though there was no hiding the hungry, eager look in his eyes.

[Harpsdesire]

Graeme's positive response was noticeable, and Dania herself stood a little straighter, obviously pleased that he approved of her efforts. The experiences she had in the process of obtaining the book had not been... comfortable, to say the least, and it had been hard keeping her quest from her parents, but she felt that the old volume was worth it.

She smiled at the Duck's almost reverent tone. She was aware of his ability to believe the impossible from their first meeting. As a result of that adventure and the subtle but curious changes that had resulted from it, she had become a bit of a believer herself. Otherwise, she would not have ventured so far from her comfort zone just to retrieve an old, dusty book.

Although he was very restrained, Graeme's eagerness to hold the book was obvious to Dania, who felt much the same when confronted with an old and precious piece of literature, no matter if gold was involved or not. She handed it to him carefully, as it was fragile with age. "Page thirty seven." She told him casually, sure that he would want to flip right to the story in question.

There were several stories in the book, although only the one directly involved treasure of a monetary value. Of the remaining tales, one concerned a mage whose pride was his own undoing, another was about star-crossed lovers who eventually threw themselves off a cliff in a gesture of romantic despair (very Torquehelm), and assorted others were about poor cards who made good, rich cards who lost everything, magical items, great battles or mythical creatures.

Dania had read the book cover to cover more than once in the past weeks. All the stories were clearly very old, most were fanciful, and quite a few were very gruesome. To most readers, it would seem like a fairly typical book of fairy tales and myths. Dania hoped Graeme would find something more in the dusty pages.

The rat wandered over to sit on an armchair, leaving the desk chair open to McDuck, in case he wished to sit and place the book back on the desk before him. After giving him a few moments to read, she asked, "What do you think so far?"

[Lucca]

Graeme could barely believe she was handing the book over, just like that. He knew how much she loved literature, and he could see how old and fragile this text was, but the Duck had dealt with many antiques in his life, some worth millions of coins. He very carefully accepted the tome, turning the pages gently, worn fingers ghosting over the paper with touches as soft as the feathers they were covered with. Finally, he got to the page, and kept his eyes riveted as he made his way to sit at the desk, as if in a trance.

He read quickly, gold eyes scanning the page, and the silence stretched on, like the whole world was holding its breath. The hush of anticipation. Graeme barely bothered to breathe; he might have been a statue, a figure of a Duck holding a book, but for the sheer fiery life in his eyes. He devoured the story like a hungry Card confronted with a loaf of bread.

At Dania words, he started, and blinked up at her. A smile spread over his bill, though what emotion it stemmed from might be hard to interpret. "Ah think we may have an adventure waiting for us, if ye be willing."

[Harpsdesire]

It was difficult to hand over something that had cost her so much to obtain, but for some reason Dania trusted Graeme to be careful. He just didn't seem like the sort to tear the pages of a possibly-valuable book. He knew the worth of things, and was well educated enough, she thought, to have a healthy respect for books. (It also didn't hurt that she had ever so carefully made a copy of the pertinent story on a sheaf of paper, so she could carry it around to study without risking harm to the elderly book and maintain a backup should something terrible happen. This was no small task for one in animal form, even with nimble rodent paws.)

The duck certainly looked... absorbed in his task, she thought. Truthfully, Dania had not yet grasped the depth of Graeme's hunger for gold, or for adventure. She was a little surprised by the intensity of his reaction to her find. A part of her thought his eagerness was a little disconcerting, but she was secretly enjoying his approval, as one with such low self-esteem was apt to do.

Although it had temporarily become somewhat of an obsession, finding the book had started out as a mere whim, as she was reminded of the tale one her first meeting with Graeme, and her father, when questioned, was unable to give much detail about the origin of the tale. That had lead her to libraries, then to used book stores, then to rare books dealers, scholars of myths, and professors of Torquehelm History. Then, eventually, the trail had taken her to a shabby little place in the capital where she had, after some misadventure, obtained her prize. And a true prize it was, if Graeme's words were any indication.

Another adventure. The thought sent an unfamiliar thrill through her. It must be excitement, she realized, an emotion her usual life was entirely lacking. "I think I can get some time off work." She said, by way of response, but her casual words were eclipsed by a rather uncharacteristically wide grin. She had never been the materialistic sort, but Dania had caught the treasure hunting bug. Something about the discovery, the mystery, the connection to the past resonated deeply with her, and she found herself unable to keep up the casual facade for long. "I would love to go!"

[Lucca]

The uncharacteristically large grin from Dania only made the one on Graeme's own beak widen. It was good to have reliable company on his adventures again. It had just been so long...his business associates that would sometimes take him were just so busy lately that he'd barely seen them at all, let alone had a chance to ask them to come away for a bit of an adventure. He himself had been busy, but one of the benefits of being rich and owning your own independent company was deciding when you needed some time off and then taking it.

"Then it's settled." Reverently, Graeme handed the book back to Dania, and stood up, grabbing his cane and tapping it on the ground with a flourish. "How soon can ye be ready to depart?" Himself, he'd brought most everything he needed with him here, and it was back in his hotel. He'd just had a good feeling that coming to visit Dania would lead to something extraordinary...and very profitable, of course! But if Dania needed a few days to make preparations for what was sure to be a long journey, well, of course he wasn't going to begrudge her that.

Graeme glanced again at the book. He hated to have to take along such a delicate volume, especially to Midori where the sea air was sure to ruin it further. But perhaps Dania had already thought of that? He turned back to her. "Have you had a copy made of this manuscript?"

[Harpsdesire]

Dania took the book in gentle paws, smiling a little at Graeme's determination. He looked like he'd happily leave for Midori that very afternoon. Dania knew it would take her at least a little while to get ready to leave, although there was little to pack when one was in animal form and clothes were unimportant. "I-- er. It's going to take a bit of convincing to get my parents to let me go. Heh..." She looked down, a little embarrassed to admit it.

Although technically an adult, Dania still had a somewhat childish mindset when it came to authority figures, and she didn't relish the idea of angering her father. "Tomorrow after my morning shift in the store would probably work." She decided. That would give her an evening to pack and clear things with her parents... well, with dad, anyway. Her mother's grasp of the passage of time was tenuous enough that she could probably be gone a few days without notice... and that sometimes her mother became frantic, forgetting her daughter was simply picking something up at the butcher's and had been gone mere moments.

Dania was glad to be distracted from this line of thought by Graeme's next question. "Will this do?" She opened the desk's top drawer and took out a rather battered leather folder filled with chunky but legible script. "I made a copy right after I got the book so I didn't have to carry it around." She explained, handing the copied story to Graeme for his approval. The effort had clearly been worth it even if it wasn't going with them to Midori, as a few of the pages within the folder were slightly rumpled or smudged by repeated reading.

[Lucca]

Graeme's heart fell just a little at the words, but he made sure not to let his slight disappointment show on his face. Years of business negotiations in rough waters meant Graeme was fairly good with not showing his lesser emotions. But when he lost his temper or fell into what his associates referred to as 'the clutches of gold fever' and what his long lost love had had an entirely different name for, they tended to get away from him. Neither of those factors were present now. The gold was still far enough off in the future that he was able to put it out of his mind, for now, and was completely calm as he he smiled wryly.

"Of course. I'll have a carriage pull up to your store in the morning, then," he said, brusque and businesslike and with no trace of inner impatience. He could afford to splurge for this first, long leg of the journey, so that they could get to Midori and the harder, more exciting part of the work sooner. Besides, the carriage driver had given him half off if Graeme let him share his room at the inn, and the Duck hadn't been able to turn down that one. He didn't expect he'd be sleeping much that night, anyway.

Especially not if he had a copy of the manuscript to hold on to. "Ach! Could I borrow this, then, lass?" Graeme grinned and, unlike the care he showed with the book, he nearly snatched the papers out of her hand, just pausing long enough that if Dania said no, he could quickly turn the motion into something harmless. He knew her love of books would give her such foresight! Upon seeing the hand writing, though, his eyebrows went up, and he turned toward the Rat. "Did you copy it all by hand?" he asked, something tinging his voice that was either awe or faint concern for her sanity, or else a mix of both.

[Harpsdesire]

Dania was a little taken aback at how quickly things had been decided. She was a natural over thinker, and the idea of a departure to an unknown realm in less than twenty four hours felt a bit shocking. Still, she was eager to be off, and the sooner they left, the sooner they would be unraveling the undoubtedly fascinating secrets of the story. "That sounds perfect." She said, trying to keep the hesitation and slight terror out of her voice. "I'll be ready."

Graeme certainly showed a rare enthusiasm for treasure hunting, and the young rat couldn’t help but be drawn in to it. She let him take the papers from her hand; the evening was sure to be too busy to allow for reading the story yet again (it would be about the 15th time, anyhow, and she had nearly memorized the tale).

Dania didn’t know what to make of Graeme’s tone when he took the papers. Her handwriting wasn’t particularly neat or feminine, it was true, but really—many cards in animal form never wrote, if they could avoid it. Her parents thought it important that she develop a legible hand, since it was useful to be able to write receipts and correspondence when working in a store, and she had done about as well as could be expected. In fact, Dania’s script was more attractive than her father’s, probably because rodent paws were better suited to holding a pen than canine.

“I wasn’t sure how else to get a copy.” She shrugged. Copying the tale had been time consuming, but without access to anyone with the magical ability to copy text, and unwilling to spend the money on a transcriptionist (she was wary of alerting anyone to her sudden acquisition of wealth), she had few options. In addition, she had been keeping the volume out of sight as much as possible, hesitant to let others outside her family know if its existence for reasons she really couldn’t explain.

There was no rational need to keep the story a secret, as the book was rare only by virtue of being from a small print run and so long out of print, and not because it was especially desirable or unique. Most cards had never heard of the compilation of Torquehelm fairy tales, and many would have little interest if they did. Even knowing this, Dania was protective of the book, which was in a very real way her ticket to adventure and mystery.

So, she had spent one evening on her belly in front of the fire, carefully copying the old book word for word on a sheaf of paper and letting each page dry before adding it to the folder. The result was a very accurate, if somewhat smudged, working copy, protected by a worn leather cover which her father had discarded in favor of a newer one some years prior.

[Lucca]

Graeme blinked, and then shook his head with a small laugh--directed at himself, of course. It was times like these when he realized just how much he took having the sort of connections he had for granted. He would never have needed to copy such a manuscript out by hand, but then, that was because he knew a publishing company (at least one) whose owner was indebted to him. "Ah, forgive me...of course. It's very well done. You have great handwriting for someone with only their Animal form." He hoped that Dania would take it as the compliment it was meant to be instead of being offended, but luckily she didn't seem the type to get up in arms.

Tucking the folder under his arm, he doffed his hat to the Torque. "Well! Ah'd best take me leave, then. Ah would nae like to overstay me welcome. Thanks for the tea and Ah'll see ye bright and early on the morrow!" He collected his cane in his other hand and used it to wave as he made his way out of the room, insisting he could show himself out. He understood Dania might need some time to herself, to get ready for this.

[Harpsdesire]

"Ah, thank you." Dania looked away, made bashful by the compliment, and maybe a little embarrassed by what it implied. She was pleased that he noticed her skill, and took the words as praise, but yet... It would be nice to be a biped, to be able to write with greater ease, to have the dexterity of hands and the distinction of a higher form. Still, as much as she tried to gain her next form, although she searched long and hard for it in the back corners of her consciousness as books on the subject suggested, she had not succeeded in transforming herself. Maybe her heart just wasn't in it, as she knew that her bipedal form was almost a formality, since she would never be able to walk properly on only one unbound leg.

Dania didn't have long to ponder such a thing, however. She was almost surprised with how quickly Graeme departed after that, although it was understandable that he was eager to read the story more closely, to plan for the adventure they would begin in less than twenty four hours. "You're welcome any time, you know. My mother.. ah... Doesn't get out much, and she's always delighted to have guests. I think she found you quite charming." Dania giggled unexpectedly, giddy with the impending adventure. "Bright and early!" She agreed, waving back.

As she heard the front door close behind McDuck, the reality of telling her parents she was heading off to Midori with a man she barely knew came crashing into her mind. Her shoulders sagged, she sighed.

((Want to do a few more posts here, or head to Midori for a new thread?))