So stay away from me / the beast is ugly (scrooge x magica)

[lifesa_witch]

 The carriage ride was so long that by the time the horses stopped, night had already settled in. It was a full moon, allowing the stone pathway to be illuminated. The rider said nothing, simply taking Scrooge's bags and walking on ahead. With any luck, this wouldn't be a return trip - but luck had died long ago in this place.

In the distance, one could hear the caws of several ravens, far away in the dark forests. It was difficult to see the house in the darkness, but it was certainly large and grand. Definitely belonging to someone of high class and lots of money. After all, it was part of the reason Scrooge was here.

Another servant was at the door, waiting for them.

"Either look her in the eyes," he warned, "or have them stay on the floor. Never anywhere else. Just keep your introduction and qualifications short. it is..." He hesitated, glancing backwards. "Often too easy to stoke her anger. And lastly... never ask questions."

Some of these things had probably been told to Scrooge before - he'd been recommended the job, after all. Granted, the recommendation came with the mysterious woman buying up his shop like it was nothing. Still, it seemed at least the servants wanted this to go well.

Whatever "this" was... it was about to begin, if he was ready to enter.

Comments

[richestduck]

His eye twitched. "I said you looked like a goddess, not were one."

[lifesa_witch]

"Oh, so this is something you tell all the girls back at your little shop?" It had nothing to do with anything. Needling him was just too entertaining.

[richestduck]

He growled in frustration. "Do we have a deal or not? In seven days, we pick up where we left off with the same agreement as before?"

[lifesa_witch]

"Oh, you're no fun." She sighed, waving her arm. "Of course we have a deal."

[richestduck]

"Excellent. I'll see you then."

He turned to leave. Well, here they went again. Should prove interesting.

[lifesa_witch]

"... Thank you."

If Scrooge dared to look back to see if she'd actually said anything, he'd only see Magica looking away, casually inspecting her own dress, pretending.

[richestduck]

Scrooge didn't look back to spare her dignity. He'd heard her and that was enough.

He left the bedroom and shut the door behind himself, his fond smile turning to a smirk as he saw how many servants were cleaning that one particular hallway.

[lifesa_witch]

Just ignore all that innocent whistling.

Clara, at least, cleared her throat to approach him. "Your room will be ready for you by the time you get back."

[richestduck]

"Thank you, Miss Clara. I appreciate it," he told her sincerely, valiantly fighting to suppress a sudden fit of laughter and barely managing to succeed.

[lifesa_witch]

"Do you wish to use the carriage on your return home?" Still pretending they hadn't overheard a single word.

[richestduck]

"If it isn't too much trouble. It's a bit of a walk for me. Not impossible but the cold weather's bothering my leg."

[lifesa_witch]

"It's no trouble at all. Let's be off." She waved for one of the other servants, who was the rider for the horses, and walked on.

[richestduck]

Scrooge followed Miss Clara out, once again helping her into the carriage before he climbed in himself. He leaned back in his seat, sighing with relief. Standing and yelling at Magica had not been fun when his leg was already constantly complaining about the weather.

"Is it sad that I'm most looking forward to the hot bricks I know will be in my bed until spring?" Scrooge asked wryly.

[lifesa_witch]

"I can hardly blame you." Look who he was talking to, after all. "You do seem to be a miracle worker."

[richestduck]

Scrooge chuckled. "I wouldn't say that. It's not miracles. It's sheer stubbornness."

[lifesa_witch]

"Either way, I hope it works out for the best." She looked out the window. "For you and her."

[richestduck]

Scrooge nodded. "And for everyone else involved would be a nice boon. I'm hoping that getting her to stop turning everything to gold will make things easier."

[lifesa_witch]

"I'm still surprised you managed to get her to agree to that." Clara admitted. "She'd been working on that amulet for years."

[richestduck]

"I suspect that what she's wanted all this time wasn't the Midas Touch itself but wealth and financial stability," Scrooge said. "The Midas Touch can grant the former for a time but never the latter. It's basic economics: Gold is valuable because it's rare and can't be easily produced. When gold was initially brought over from the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese, the price of it went down slightly, but the market balanced itself quickly enough. Since it was a fairly rare commodity, it remained valuable.

"However, introduce someone who can turn anything into gold on a whim, and the price of gold crashes. Even if it's only one person, the fact gold could be created so easily makes it less valuable. Like I told her in the beginning, we were already seeing that value drop. When she stopped using the amulet, the market began balancing itself. It will take some time for gold to become again what it used to be worth, but now that there isn't a constant influx of gold, it's becoming rare once more."

He gave a shrug of his shoulders.

"My goal with her financials was to set up something where she could live like the queen she wanted to be and keep it stable so she and others wouldn't end up living in poorhouses made of gold. I've always had this financial plan in mind but..." He spread his hands. "...unfortunately booksellers don't make that much money. I have investments which I continually reinvest to help keep me comfortable but they aren't much in the long run."

[lifesa_witch]

Clara blinked - she hadn't expected the history lesson or speech. She suspected this was what Magica needed to hear - but equally suspected that stubborn Magica wouldn't listen to a word of it. She only agreed to the contract just to get Scrooge's help, and to hell with the world's economy.

"Always?" She repeated with a bit of surprise. "So... you were waiting for someone to come along with this odd sort of predicament?"

[richestduck]

Scrooge shook his head. "No, I was intending to use that scheme for my family, but you need money to make money in this case."

They pulled up to the bookshop.

"But that's a story for another time. I'll see you in a week, Miss Clara."

[lifesa_witch]

Saying "scheme" so shamelessly... maybe he really was a good fit for the mistress after all.

"Be well, Mister McDuck."

[richestduck]

"You, too, Miss Clara."

With that, he left the carriage and returned to his shop.

[lifesa_witch]

Seven days came and went - the carriage arrived, with Clara inside, waiting for Scrooge. She had to wonder if this time around, things would be any different.

[richestduck]

Scrooge came out after a few minutes, locking the door behind himself to seal up the shop. The shop itself was bare with its inventory safely packed away in storage in case he needed to open up elsewhere in the future.

He struggled with the valise and carpetbag, his limp much more pronounced. It was cold and wet today, and his leg felt as if he were walking on razor blades.