Welcome to Gaia! ::

Howl wasn't normally one to go looking for a job. He was also not normally one to waste time strolling down a street past the Durem Caves (he tended to avoid the caves, seeing as they were filled with Jaella's creepy critters and frightening people such as Darcy Azoulai). So wearing his favorite suit (blue and silver with the dangling silver sleeves) he found himself--okay so he'd admit having cut his traveling time in half by use of a gentle breeze--found himself in front of some sort of shop he'd never seen before. It certainly wasn't a tailor's; Howl firmly believed he knew every tailor on Gaia, and was probably correct in said assumption. It wasn't a magic shop; Howl, being the talented wizard he was, could sense magic from miles away.

That was, if he was paying attention.

Howl liked appearing like the lazy, rich son of an even lazier rich man; but his appearance said nothing about the teenager. When he wasn't running away or fleeing the very idea of working on something that could force him to use his full potential, Howl could work hard. When he wanted to. In Wales, he'd been the extremely promising college student who'd disappointed everyone in his small town by never getting a proper job (he'd never bothered to look for work within Wales) or settling down (even there, he had a reputation for breaking hearts). And that had been the way he had wished to appear. In Ingary he had been the successful Sorcerer Jenkin. The all powerful Wizard Pendragon, Horrible Heartless Howl (hey, sometimes it was difficult winning girls hearts) and of course, the Royal Wizard.

Countless times, he had saved the world. Countless times had he rescued Sophie (of course, knowing him, he probably had counted, just to remind Sophie when she got angry at him), not to mention his son, Morgan, and he had been happy that way.

On Gaia, wizards didn't have half the status they did in Ingary. And though it was a relief that Gaia didn't need saving from a Witch, djinn or a lubbock, the vain fellow felt a certain lack of purpose. He needed to do something, and since his attempts at selling spells were unsuccessful as of yet, he needed a job. He walked into the shop, and looked around. He smirked, and sat down, putting arms behind his head. Of course, he assumed modern day teenagers (hey, last time he'd actually been a teenager was in 1967!) acted this way. "'Sup?" he directed at the nearest person.

"Oh no, thank you," Howl had already decided this wasn't his kind of shop. They weren't selling clothes--or really anything he thought Sophie would appreciate. Besides, the teenager had absolutely no sense of fashion. How could anyone in their right mind dye their hair green? It was such a sickly color. He had never liked it, much.

Though he maybe should have been, Howl wasn't in the least bit surprised the man who'd taken the green haired teenager's place knew his name. "That's right," he said with a nod. "Howl Zulpen. Well, Howell Jenkins, if you want to be proper, but--" he'd always preferred to be called Howl. He gave another nod. "I need the gold," he explained. "I need to purchase a proper wedding ring for my wife, you see; I'm going to repropose to her soon, and I need her to say yes so I can get my heart back and be able to love her again. I'm willing to work thirty hours a week; but no more than that. I can work late hours, seeing as I don't sleep much anyway." He'd had too many nightmares lately to sleep much, without a certain mage's assistance. "That good?" he asked.

Howl shrugged and flashed Kiri a smirk. "If the employer won't do as I suggest, I can always take my abilities elsewhere." Or he could always summon the gold and repay it later--he knew Sophie wouldn't approve of that, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right? Besides, it wasn't like he was living off his father's pay check anymore. He was living on his own. Sophie wouldn't know. Well, it wouldn't hurt him, anyway, until she found out. "Thank you," he said, taking the sheet and studying it.

"Lay out the ground rules now, and we can get this over with," the teenager suggested, signing the sheet with a flourish. "I'm not sure I feel comfortable, agreeing to these, not knowing what you'll expect from me."

"I didn't see anything about that," Howl protested instantly. "I saw a list of cheap-a** rules about not sassing the customers or doing things on time. I don't do shots, and I don't work on Fridays, especially not before noon. Absolutely not. No. Unless it's legal here for Gaians to have invisible ink--" he huffed and crossed his arms, looking particularly sulky. "You tricked me."

Twenty thousand, though... Twenty thousand gold. Just one hour's pay would be enough to get Sophie a ring. Just one. "And I don't clean," he added. "Never have. And I've never heard of Jurdian anything--and I probably don't want to know what you mean by it." Howl wasn't interested in anything that caused him to see anything that even vaguely resembled a doctor. Shots (he had a terrible phobia of needles), and any kind of medicines (he was always sick), were on this list.

"I'm not going to work for an entire year for you! I've got other responsibilities. I've got a castle to keep up, and a wife and a son, not to mention other family, to tend to. By the time I get done working here, I'll probably have grown--twice!"

Howl quirked an eyebrow; something he knew frusterated many people because they were unable to do so. "You know nothing about me," he said, lips twitching. He might have had the appearance--and at times the mind of a teenager--but the man was over thirty three years old--and older, if he considered that he'd been born in 1952 and the date was now mid-2011...He was old. Older than he liked to think about. "You don't seem like my kind of employer," the wizard commented casually. "Though, the last person who successfully pinned me down to any job was the king of Ingary; my wife only convinces me to do things when she asks nicely." Or she cheated. Sophie had a certain gift with magic where she could convince inanimate objects--and Howl (and others around)--to do her bidding.

"Hey. Hey. I know all about these job applications, and I didn't fill one out for you. I signed a list of rules for you, I didn't agree to start today. I didn't even agree to work for you. I agreed to follow the rules so you'd tell me what was up. Even volunteering, you usually have to sign about ten different sheets. You didn't ask me about my job history. You didn't ask about anything. What kind of an employer are you? Do you turn your new employees into zombies or something so they do your bidding? Wait, no, that's Black Beard. Still. You can't force me to do anything. I quit. I can summon enough gold to purchase Sophie's ring, and then I'll put my abilities to use."

The wizard gave a shrug and smirked. "Do you doubt me that much?" Honestly, this new boss-man was doing nothing to impress the boy. Was Kiri rather dim? He thought Howl would drop a box? A box? "You needn't worry. I won't drop your precious box."

As Howl rounded the corner, the box unfolded itself and turned into some creepy thing. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he was absolutely certain whatever it was, he didn't like it. He quickened his pace, hoping to get to the pink haired creep quickly so this smaller creep would get off him. "Hey!" he protested as the whatever-it-was climbed onto his shoulder. "Get out of my hair."

Was it some kind of robotic hamster? It must have been some badly behaved breed. "Listen. I don't know what you are, but I've got to get you to some pink haired guy. Honestly, what kind of person dyes their hair pink? I've had pink hair before. Sophie dyed my hair pink once--it was terrible. But I think eventually it looked nice on me. Every color does. Kali told me so."

He reached the pink haired boy, pausing for breath. "Can you get this thing off of me?" he asked, a plea in his voice. "It keeps trying to go down my shirt."

"I apologize. I wasn't told your name, so you can't expect me to have known it. It's not like I can read minds or anything." The wizard shrugged. Mind reading wasn't one of his abilities--and he didn't mind that. Divining, however, was entirely different. So the boy wasn't real? That was news to him. Being from times before robots were sentient, Howl had very little experience with them, outside of his nephew's computer games. Neil had always liked the games Howl'd made for him; the ones no one else had.

"I apologize for thinking such," Howl muttered. "Thank you for helping me. I would have never figured out how to make this-- box thing stop. It's nice to meet you, Kalia." He had to keep from snorting. Did all the men have fema--no, he couldn't think that. Kalia would be sure to kill him, and the thin wizard had no doubt that he could. Howl really was a jelly full of terror; the cowardly wizard could only be brave if it was neccessary. "So. Mr. Kalia, yes? Could you tell me where the warehouse is? Kiri asked me to take this to the warehouse. I can usually find my way around," he added awkwardly.

Well. Kalia didn't seem like the nicest sort either. He hoped not all of Kiri's employees would treat him like some sort of villian. He was starting to feel uncomfortable. Surely someone-- someone here would like him?

"Hi!" Howl beamed; finally someone friendly. Maybe this person would become a friend of his? Kiri and Kalia seemed rather frightening, honestly. "Nice to meet you," he said, allowing the pink haired boy with rainbow streaks to lead him to the warehouse. "It's a fairy?" he asked, glancing at the sleeping robot in his arms with some curiousity. He carefully set the box-fairy down where instructed before looking to the boy.

"You're the first friendly face I've seen," the wizard confessed with some hesitation. "I'm Howl. It's nice to meet you--er, what's your name?" Hopefully this one didn't read minds too. "What do you do here?" he asked with some interest. Kiri was clearly the one in charge, and Kalia was a scary supervisor--but this boy, the one with pink and rainbow streaks seemed nicer than either of them.

"I'd love to get to know you," he added, beaming.