New Beginnings

[Matthias]

A discontent sigh slowly filled the air as he took in his surroundings. Behind him the weasel visibly tensed and held its breath.

“Is this the best you could find?” he asked as he moved deeper into the room and looked around him with mild disdain. The weasel muttered something and their companions smiled to themselves in malicious enjoyment.

“I see.” The pause that followed was long and drawn out, the gentle sound of gloves being taken off; one finger at a time stopped the silence from encroaching entirely. It was dismissed with a crack of cloth on flesh as the gloves were slapped sharply against his palm. All three of the quiet figures twitched at the sound, one more than the others.

“Well then. If this is the best you could secure it will have to do for the time being I suppose.”

The sense of relief was palpable, the room swelling with the slow exhalation of a held breath. There was more muttering that was brought to a stop by a dismissive wave of one hand.

“Yes, yes, enough of that. The wines turned out to be vinegar and I’m already bored of listening to you trying to lap it up off the floor.”

There was another pause as he regarded the range of furniture before sitting down in the best of the bad bunch and discarded the gloves onto a nearby table. There was an ominous creak as he sat a sudden intake of breath by the figures watching and a raised eyebrow in response.

“I want a decent chair. A comfortable chair. And some good curtains to replace the terrible excuses for such that are hung up. The rest we can resolve in time if we are to stay.”

There was another discontent sigh as he laid his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. The animals instantly stilled.

“Gods blood, I do so hate having to move. I had just got everything as I wanted it in the last place. I do hope one of you has something to chase away these unrelenting waves of dissatisfaction?”

The smug and excited chatter that the rat managed to get out ended after a couple of minutes as the smile slowly appeared. It widened across his features and happiness shone in his eyes again as he opened them.

“Excellent. That is a much more palatable morsel to taste.”

He stood up and extended one hand to the speaker who immediately stepped forward and placed their hand in his with a delighted smile. The owl rolled their eyes. He turned his attention to the weasel again.

“Whilst we’re ensuring the rest of the furniture isn’t going to immediately break tell the lion to do the usual once I’m done and that I’ll make my own way home. I think I’ll take in some of the evening air and discover the wonderful places my dear friend had mentioned now I know where to find them. Oh, and that I will find him a bakery to make use of.”

The weasel frantically nodded its understanding despite the fear for the speakers safety that crept into them like an insidious cancer. He turned back to the one whose hand he held and led them into another room.

“I’m not entirely sure I approve of current fashions The decor is just awful and the clothing, dear Lord above the clothing. Far too restrictive for my own liking. I mean look here, I’ve already ripped a seam on this outfit.” he said before the door was shut behind them.

The weasel glanced over at the owl with a vaguely hopeful expression. It was crushed by the blank look and response they received. The weasel turned and stormed out muttering angrily as the owl shrieked cruelly and sat on the floor by the chair, content to wait for the door to open again. Their turn would come.

[Matthias]

He leaned back in the chair, sighed heavily and threw the last of the accumulated pile of papers back upon the desk. The other figure in the room looked over from where they were laid with a questioning eyebrow raised.

“You know, I do sometimes worry that I will eventually succumb to lunacy and end up like some others of our kind.” He said, a faintly amused smile forming at the corner of his lips. “And I do wish they would at least use the correct terminology.”

The other figure moved slightly and lazily asked a question.

“Of course it matters my dear.” He replied with another exasperated sigh. “How else are the young supposed to learn right from wrong if their supposed tutors and betters keep teaching them the wrong things? If one is to be accused of wrong doing then people should at least have the common decency to get the wording correct. There is nothing so infuriatingly irritating as being accused of the wrong thing. It sends all the wrong messages and only causes galling complications further down the line for all involved. And if you’ve gone to the effort and trouble under the banner of one thing it is actually insulting if your acts are touted as something else by ill-informed ignoramuses.”

Long fingers pick up one of the discarded letters and it is scrutinised with careful consideration.

“Still….at least the idiot Architect is out of the way properly now, that is one less obstacle to deal with thankfully.”

Another lazy comment drifted over in his direction that was batted away with a vaguely dismissive wave of the letter in his hand.

“In the grand scheme of things it is naught but a footnote now. We have missed all the excitement, more’s the pity. That would have been an enjoyable thing to see but alas we were busy elsewhere as you well know.”

The figure rolled over and propped themselves up on their elbows before asking another, more thoughtful question. Matthias laughed softly and discarded the letter back onto the table.

“Of course we’ll see her again, where else is she going to go? A caged bird never fly’s far from its perch even when it cannot see the bars. It is one of the irrefutable certainties of this world my dear, of our kind. We are creatures of habit, we change more slowly than the face of a mountain does and even then it is just the rock face that changes. Underneath it all we are still the same solid stone as when we last drew breath.”

There was a longer pause, another thoughtful silence before it was broken again. Matthias grinned wolfishly in return.

“Well, it does rather beg the question doesn’t it? I expect there to be a thoroughly exciting conversation at the next Elysium about the whole thing. One does wonder though how the rest of them will feel about it. Irrespective of that, you shall, of course, need to find me more suitable accommodation than this fetid sinkhole. Perhaps somewhere different from where I originally planned though. One does have to wonder what people see in the Usurpers though, it fair boggles the mind.”

The figure on the bed groaned and lay down with mild despair. Maybe in their next life they would find something akin to peace. There certainly was none to be found in this one.