CH 1: Once Upon a Time...

commanderproton

Senior Member
A large hand reached out and slapped the button on top of the radio, silencing it. It was the sort with a CD player, which currently held a classical music disk. Humbert Fenric had gotten fed up with the local radio stations. Almost invariably, they chose to play "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Werewolves of London", or "Little Red Riding Hood" whenever he set his alarm, and that was *not* how he wanted to start the day. But, then, neither would you, if you were a recovering Big Bad Wolf.  


His Role in the Narrative had made sure he was big and bad, but he still went through a morning workout routine. It kept him sharp and the discipline kept the Wolf at bay. Then came breakfast, and Humbert allowed the Wolf a little leeway, piling a plate full of eggs, hamsteak, potatoes and fruit.  


After breakfast, Humbert went through his morning ablutions with a sense of resigned determination. He shaved, even though he could watch his scruffy beard regrow within minutes. He neatly combed his hair, even though he could feel it writhe on his scalp, mussing itself. He filed down the points his nails had grown into overnight.


But then, trying was the point, wasn't it?


Then, he got dressed. Much of his wardrobe were simple black suits, crisp white shirts, black ties, and shiny black shoes. Humbert would have preferred a softer, more casual look, but the black-suited agent of a mysterious government bureau was a story of its own, and a layer of insulation between Humbert and the Narrative.  


The Narrative.  


The Narrative started all of this, turned him from a slightly built youth with dreams of stardom into an embodiment of primordial fear. Then, he'd been basically drafted to fight the Narrative. And when the Narrative couldn't be stopped, LIBRIS tried to safely deliver a Happy Ending.  


Neatly dressed, yet looking like a Mafia hitter, rather than a Fed, Humbert put on the last piece of his uniform, a pair of glasses with colored lenses to help disguise the bright gold of his eyes.  


It reinforced the hitman look.  


With a sigh, he locked up and got into his car, with its bulletproof and charmproof glass and mirrors, and headed to work, bracing himself for what was waiting.
 

Pepper Monigan


 


Pepper was woken by Tarmac when he decided that she had been asleep for long enough and that it was time to feed them. The redhead groaned and rolled over swatting at the black cat trying to get him to go away. He alarm hadn't gone off yet she could sleep some more. A loud meow was heard soon followed by a lick to her foot. The sensation of a sandpaper tongue against her skin made her squirm. 


 


"Alright, alright I'm up already. Sheesh." Pepper told the cat sitting up and looking down at the small feline. She sighed and pet him. "I guess you want breakfast huh?" Standing up she stretched before leaving her room, Tarmac following after her.


 


Her other pets chose at that moment to go towards her knowing that it was now time for breakfast. With a sigh the redhead led her small army to the kitchen where she served them breakfast before she got herself a bowl of cereal. Lucky Charms. Her favorite. 


 


After breakfast and her shower she told Grandma goodbye and headed for work. Ugh, Scruffy was going to be all cranky. She might as well be nice and pick everyone up some coffee. She knew what Hope and the others liked but she couldn't remember what Srcuffy liked. Guess she would pick him up just a black coffee. And he better not complain about it. She was being nice after all.


 


After stopping at the coffee shop and getting everone their coffee she headed for work. Locking the door to her jeep once there she headed inside for what was probably going to be a loooooooong day.


 


 
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Samantha was up and moving by 7:00, something she had always done. She never wanted less than that. The radio was playing soft classical music in the background as she painted. It was a pretty scene. A snowy scene set in the woods. Pretty basic but she enjoyed it. She still had an hour before she had to be at work, and so her hair was still a mess and she was still in her PJs that she had slept in. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]After about fifteen minutes she stopped. The painting was only about a quarter done, but it would have to do. She had to get ready for work. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She had an interesting job. She was a field agent that worked against this thing called the Narrative. It affected people and turned them into characters basically. She herself had never been touched by it, but she knew people who had. She was what they called a level 0. The Narrative never tried to touch her, which she supposed was a good thing. Meant she didn’t have to worry about becoming a character like so many of her coworkers did. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]After a few minutes she came out of her bedroom dressed in her normal work clothes. Black slacks with a black long sleeved shirt. Bought from Walmart. She was rather cheap, and it still looked nice so she couldn’t complain. It was better than being in a dress. If things got bad she didn’t want to be caught in a dress. [/SIZE]


[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She adjusted her glasses as she looked around her apartment. It was pretty normal. Nothing seemed out of place. She made sure to hide anything involving her job incase one of her friends or family came over to check on her and let themselves in. [/SIZE]



[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]She smiled as she quickly grabbed herself a piece of toast before walking out her front door. She turned and locked the apartment before she started down her stairs and to the sidewalk, heading towards her car, ready to start the day.[/SIZE]
 
The bright sunlight poured through the window, earning a groan from Hope as he tries to turn away. After a few minutes of failing to return to the magical land of slumber, he lets out a groan and stretches. Hope turns his head to the nightstand beside his pastel colored bed to check the clock. "8am huh? Early day...much too early," he says with a yawn. He had never been a morning person. Slowly reaching the bathroom, Hope showers, using his favorite strawberry body wash and shampoos. Once he steps out, he checks his mirror for any imperfections. After a close 5 minute examination Hope smiles. "I'm looking so cuuuuute!"


After browsing his closet, he sits down on the floor. "I can't decide," Hope mutters to himself. After taking a moment to think of the reactions each of his outfits would get from Humbert and Pepper, he decides on the standard white shirt and blazer. Hope nearly gags at the pair of black slacks that he's been told to wear with his uniform and tosses it to the side. After digging in his closet for a moment, he finds what he's looking for. Hope pulls out a black pleated skirt along with black thigh high socks and a pair of pink and black polka dotted underwear that wouldn't look out of place in the drawer of a teenage girl with daddy issues. "This should go well!"


Once dressed, Hope lets down his long chestnut brown hair and combs it, fixing his bangs with a smile. After adding a few pins and red ribbons to his suit, he's ready to go. Hope pulls out his bedazzled phone and texts the transportation department that hes ready for his daily ride.


As Hope waits for his ride, he packs his book bag with his daily necessities such as marbles, his 3DS handheld and charger and his box of prank/craft materials. Hope prepares himself a bowl of cereal while he waits for the poor transportation worker unfortunate enough to get stuck driving him today, oh the prank he had in store for them!
 
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The day started like any other day, Liam smacked the snooze button on his alarm to give himself a few extra minutes to sleep. He really enjoyed his sleep, and extra ten minutes just wasn't long enough but he needed to get up and get ready for work. He slowly pulled himself out of his bed and dragged his tired body to his dresser pulling out his clothes for the day, he decided on a pair of black pants, a green t-shirt with a black hoodie and a black leather jacket which he placed on his bed so it was all ready for him after his shower. 


It was a quick shower, about ten minutes, he stepped out after he was finished and dried himself off before getting dressed. He took one final look in the mirror before going back to the bathroom to brush his teeth, after the bathroom he walked to the kitchen grabbing himself a can of Red Bull to drink when he arrived at the office. Oh yes the office, Liam couldn't really complain since the people he worked for were paying for his bachelor apartment. Liam could never afford this place on his own, he was a street kid originally and survived by stealing from others. LIBRIS was the company that recruited him, this group is in charge of monitoring the world for any peculiar happenings which involve Literary characters. Yes it sounds strange but these characters do exist in some form or another.


Liam grabbed his backpack putting it over his back, took one last look around the place to see if he forgot anything, once he was good to go he walked out of the door and locked the place up. Putting the earbuds from his iPhone 6s in his ears he headed out of the apartment and down the streets towards the office, only he and his team mates know what the building actually is. 


Liam walked to the door, opened it and walked in, once he walked in he scanned his key card and headed to the employee room to wait for further instructions.  
 
Pulling into MacDonald Pharmaceutical--or MacDonald Pharm, as they called it--Humbert passed through the false front office, into the LIBRIS offices hidden beyond.  Ms Glass, the Dispatch clerk, said there hadn't been any alerts last night, other than a brief rain of toads near Chouteau.  


As usual, he was the first one into the office, though he was sure the rest of his team would arrive soon.
 

Pepper Monigan


 


Pepper looked up at the building before her holding the cup holder in her hand as she put her keys into her hoodie pocket. Her combat boots clomped on the sidewalk as she headed inside. The building itself wasn't really all that interesting. It was disguised to be a pharmacy. A building that anyone with any kind of common sense would try to avoid like the plague. After all the place could cause the plague for all they knew. She stepped into the building waving at the people that "worked" at the pharmacy. In actuality there were LIBRIS workers. They were here to keep up the good image that the pharmacy had. 


 


Walking through the door behind the counter she walked into the offices. She stretched as she looked around the place. She nodded towards her coworkers but that was pretty much it. She didn't know them very well and so didn't do anything more than that. She waved every once in a while as she headed for the office that she and here coworkers worked at. 


 


Stepping into the office that she worked at she saw that Humbert was already there. "Heya Scruffy," She said with a yawn, not bothering to cover her mouth. She didn't care if she spread the yawn. She handed him his coffee. "I decided to be nice and get you a coffee. I didn't know what kind you like so I just got you a black coffee. And don't you dare bitch at me about not liking it. It is too early for that crap." 


 


Making her point she sat on her desk waiting for her other coworkers to show up. She took a drink from her own coffee as she waited.
 
Fenric arched a dark brow at Pepper's "Scruffy" comment, but accepted the coffee.  "Thanks, Pepper," he said.  "That's actually nice of you."


He settled his jacket on the back of his chair and started working on the piles of paperwork on his desk, waiting for the others to show up.
 
The car pulled up to the LIBRIS building and Hope hopped out and shut the door, leaving active firecrackers in his seat as a little "surprise" for the driver. Making his escape into the building, Hope walked in and past the fake pharmacy and into the actual LIBRIS. Seeing the familiar tall and dashing figure of his favorite resident wolf man, Hope walked forward with some pep in his step. "Goooood morning!"
 
Humbert glanced over at Hope.  "Good--" he paused, taking in the schoolgirl outfit-- "morning..."  He made no further comment.  "Pepper was nice enough to make a coffee run," he said, then answered the phone ringing on his desk.


 "Fenric," he answered.  "Yes." He looked at Hope.  "Yes." His brow arched.  "I see. I'll see to the matter," he said, and disconnected.  "Pepper, take the coffee you bought for Hope out to Ms Glass at the Dispatch desk.  I'm sure she'll appreciate it," he said, then turned to Hope.  "Firecrackers?  Really?"
 
Liam was fairly new to the office and didn't really know anybody yet, he just sat quietly listening to his music with his feet up on a table drinking his red bull and taking everybody it. For him it was strange to work for such an organization when for years he was avoiding being caught by the police, he just took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Last night's sleep just wasn't enough so perhaps he could catch a couple of winks before they were sent on their first mission.
 

Pepper Monigan


 


Pepper looked up from her phone when Hope came into the room. He was wearing a school girl outfit today. And funny enough he made the thing look good. Not that she would tell him that. It would just go to his head. They didn't need that. "Mornin' Hope," she greeted. When Humbert mentioned the coffee she raised Hope's up to show him.


 


Just then the phone decided to ring. The redhead glanced over to Scruffy as he picked it up. It apparently was about Hope with the look he gave him. When he was done on the phone he continued to look at Hope with his eyebrow raised. What'd he do this time?  It must have been bad if he wasn't allowed to have his coffee. She hopped off her desk putting her phone in her hoodie pocket as she did. She grabbed both Liam's and Hope's coffee and headed out. 


 


"Nice one Hope!" she called back when she heard that he had left firecrackers in the back of the cab. Sure she felt bad for the driver but you gotta admit that was funny. She stopped by Liam's desk. "Hey Liam, I brought you a coffee. I know it's not a redbull but I thought you would like it." she told him setting it down on his desk. "Hope lost his coffee privlages for the day. Decided to leave firecrackers in the back of the cab." she chuckled. Sucks that she hadn't been there really. It would have been funny. 


 


"I gotta go take his coffee to Ms. Glass. I'll be back. Do me a favor and keep track of what happens with this discussion Scruffy and Hope are having.  I don't want to miss out on something this funny." she laughed as she left heading to Ms. Glass.
 
"Whaaaa?! Nooo!" Hope whined. "Peppy, don't listen! Come baaaack...," Hope''s voice trailed off along with his chance's of getting sweet coffee as he witnessed Pepper walk out. After letting out a sad sigh, he blushes knowing its time to face the big man. "W-well, he was a new driver ya know? T-thought it would be funny," Hope chuckles as he remembers hearing the poor man scream as they started going off. They weren't massive or anything, just the small finger sized ones that make lots of noise and smoke. He just so happened to leave a fist fill of them in the seat. They shouldn't have done that much damage. "He should be fine! He looked kinda lanky, like a wuss? I think I heard Pepper use that word before...Anyway, yeah! I thought it would help toughen him up! Expect the unexpected and stuff so really, I did him a favor if you think about it," Hope states, matter-of-factly.
 
Fenric looked down at Hope, brawny arms folded over his broad chest, unmoved by Hope's wheedling.  "Destruction of Bureau property," he said, "endangering an agent, and should  you really be calling someone a wuss?" 


(Are you still with us, @Awkwardpotato?)
 
Hope couldn't help but feel his heart race at Humby's scolding. Wanting continue getting attention, he defends himself. "W-what's that supposed to mean? I'm not a wuss...whatever that means...sounds unpleasant!" Hope leans on his tip toes to look tougher but hardly rises past the wolf man's pecs. "He'll be fine! They don't explode too much and the smoke is minimal! The popping noise is the only scary part and it's goes away in like 5 minutes. They're the same ones I put behind the men's room toilets last month," Hope adds, once again in a matter-of-factly tone.
 
Fenric allowed a little fang to show when he said, "There will not be a repeat incident.  And you are very close to me taking your Nintendo away.  Now," he said, tone lightening somewhat, "do me a favor and see what you can research on rains of toads."


Ms Glass thanked Pepper for the coffee, her smile making her silver eyes twinkle.  "This is just what I needed," she said.  
 
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Hope let out a little whimper at the idea of getting his 3DS taken away but straighten himself with a salute at his new task. "Yes sir!" Hope turns to make his way to his desk before turning back to the big bad wolf. "S-so...um...h-how do I look," Hope asks with a slight tint of pink cheeks. Hope usually wears even flashier clothing with little care so long as he looked cute. He could wear a frilly lolita dress and feel completely natural, but he always cares a bit more than usual about what Humby thinks of his attire.
 
Fenric sighed, used to this routine with Hope.  He was rather like a cat in that respect, loudly demanding attention and adoration when he was so minded, other times being aloof and disinterested.  "You look very presentable," he said, patiently.  "In fact, I think if a case came across our desks, we could actually present you as some sort of student." 


The eternal boy did, actually, look pretty cute, but Fenric wasn't going to tell *him* that.
 
With a giggle, Hope does a twirl. The skirt spun high enough to reveal a pair of red undergarments with ribbons on the rear end. Hope skips to his desk with a smile, happy for the compliment a's me pulls out his modded 3DS along side his nodded PSvita and hooks them up to the sole monitor on his desk. Since he uses gaming handhelds that typically aren't looked at as mediums to replace computers, Hope hardly has to worry about the Narrative giving him trouble, especially with his firewalls set up. After setting up, he begins to look up the rains of toads. 
 
Samantha pulled up to the office, a little bit later than normal, and ran into the building as quickly as she could. If she could avoid being late she would, but sadly that was not something she was good at doing. She just hoped Fenric wouldn't notice. If he did it would not be a fun time for her considering this was the second time she had been late that week. She looked around the fake front office and went into the hidden offices just beyond the wall. Walking in she noticed she was the last one there, and most of them had already begun the day. Sighing she walked into the room and prayed that by some chance no one notice she was late. 


(Sorry. I went camping and I have like three tests this week. It's been a little harder then normal to find time to read an reply. )
 
Liam thanked Pepper, "thanks I could always use more caffeine." He chuckled before watching her go, he was half paying attention to the conversation, something about fireworks and Hope getting his DS taken away. "Don't worry Hope if you end up getting it taken away just let me know, I can always steal it back for you." He smiled, "I mean..I will not steal it from the office," Liam corrected himself turning to Fenric. 
 
Hope gives Liam a smile and tosses a lollipop his way before returning to his work, half looking at Humby for his reaction to Liam's theft confession. Hope has pickpocketed mister wolf once or twice but now that he's better acquainted with the young pranker's antics, scruffy man is a much harder target to steal from and get away with it.


Hope pulls out a lollipop of his own and sticks it in his mouth as he begins to datamine a few files. "Humby, what exactly am I lookin for here?"
 

Pepper Monigan


 


Pepper smiled at Ms. Glass as she handed her the coffee. "It's no trouble really," she told the woman. "I gotta get back to Scruffy before he chews me out for taking too long or something. Enjoy the coffee." She laughed as she turned to head back to the office to see what was going on. 


 


When she returned she saw that Samantha had finally come in and Hope was at his desk working. Ah man! It was already finished! That sucks. "Dammit! I missed everything! Why does all the fun stuff happen when I'm away?" she asked with whine. She went over to Liam and leaned her elbows holding her chin in her hands on his desk. "Come on man, you heard all of it! You gotta tell me the juicy parts! What happened?" she pouted at him as if that would make him tell her the information more.


 


(Sorry it's short guys :( )
 
Fenric merely cleared his throat meaningfully when Samantha came in.  He knew she would be in deep trouble with Putnam if she was late again, but a sharp, yellow-eyed look was all she was going to get from him.  He may be the team leader, but he wasn't about to get a good agent in trouble over something like a few minutes tardiness.  Besides, Samantha didn't require the constant sheepdog correction Hope did.  


With everyone gathered, Fenric addressed the office.  "Ms Glass says the only thing to ping on the radar last night was a brief rain of toads in Chouteau," he said.  "I have Hope doing research on it, though I don't expect the mundane media to have much to say." 


Unspoken was the fact that it was busywork to keep their resident Pan out of trouble.  The Archivists were no doubt combing the Index for Narrative relevance this very moment.  


"So, as we have an all-too-rare breather, we'll be tackling everybody's favorite pastime: paperwork."
 
Samantha glanced up at Fenric as he cleared his throat at her. She saw his sharp yellow eyes looking at her and lowered her head as she walked to her own desk and waited for them to get started. Nearby she heard Pepper asking Liam for details about something. Looking around at her coworkers she could somewhat begin to guess what it was. She could assume that it had something to do with Hope and his energy. Her thoughts were confirmed when Liam responded about Hope almost having his DS taken away.  Though it wasn't her place to ask why, nor did she want to for Fenric had started to speak. He spoke of the brief rain of toads that pinged on the radar the night before. That took her off guard a little, but that was a normal thing. She was still getting used to, well. everything. 


Her thoughts returned to her team leader as he said that they would be doing paperwork. " Paperwork? " She muttered. It was by far the thing she hated the most about the job. She didn't like to be stuck at a desk for long periods of time with not much to do other then stare at paper. 
 
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